Blading Brings People Together
by fireflame1801
Summary: Charice, a new blader, becomes a representative of Philippines and must fight with her teammates through the Beyblade World Championships. Main pairing is Nile/OC. There will be more which the story doesn't really focus on, but they're there anyway. Rated T for Beyblade violence and insanity. At several points because the world needs more insanity ! So yeah. Go ahead and read. :3
1. The First Representative of Philippines

**Hiya, this is my first fiction, so please don't flame! Um… please read and enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER – I do not own Beyblade, only Charice, Alex, Miku and Mitsuki and their beys. I also own Louisa, Tanya and Dasha.**

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 1: The First Representative of Philippines

Victorious, a brown-haired 13 year-old girl caught her purple bey as the battle ended.

"Alright! The match for the first place as a Regular for Team Philippines is over! The winner is Charice Lorrendos!"

Charice, for that was the teenager's name, stepped forwards, and faced the crowd.

Her sparkling violet eyes scanned the crowd, her sharp ears picking up every cheer of her name.

She had done it. She had won. She was the first member in the team representing her country for the World Championships.

Charice smiled widely and waved, causing the cheers to grow ever louder.

The loser of the battle, a black-haired girl, trudged out of the arena, looking very much disappointed.

"Give it up for Charice! The first representative of Philippines! She will be fighting in the World Championships!" The commentator turned to the blader. "So, Charice, have anything to say?"

"Um… well, I'd like to thank my friends and family for supporting me all the way, especially my three sisters, my bey for allowing all this to happen, and the audience, for being so supportive and cheering me on the whole time…" Charice's gaze met the stare of one of the spectators, a boy of around 15, with dark hair and yellow highlights on the sides.

He had large, green eyes and a light skin tone. Over a red, white lined shirt, he wore a high collared, white sleeveless coat with yellow fur trim along the ends.

She stared back defiantly, noticing that he wasn't cheering or even clapping.

Eventually, he turned his head. Charice's sharp eyes caught the gleam of ear piercings.

"What's wrong, Charice? Someone in the audience catch your eye?" The commentator teased, winking.

"What? NO!" Charice said, believing that he wasn't joking.

"No worries, I was just teasing ya!"

"Oh! Right…"

"Give it up for Charice once more! Off you go!"

As Charice walked out of the arena, the cheers slowly died away.

The emerald eyes of that teenage were emblazoned in her mind, his cold stare drilling into her thoughts, although she could no longer see him.

-XD-

"I'm home!" Charice shouted, banging on her front door.

Their house was a good size, big enough for Charice, her three sisters, and their parents. The front door was a deep, marine blue, the colour of the house itself a pale cream.

"She's home! Get ready! Shut up, Dasha, you're going to ruin it!"

Charice sniggered: her sisters were so predictable, trying to surprise her.

Opening the door, Charice knew what would happen.

"SURPRISE!" Her three sisters jumped out at her, the 9 year old, Dasha, latching onto her leg. The older two, Louisa and Tanya, just stood, the 15 year old Louisa grinning like crazy, and the 17 year old Tanya smiling happily.

"Ok, Dasha, let go of Charice. Give the representative of Philippines a rest." Louisa laughed.

"No!" Dasha cried.

"Dasha, let go of her leg." Tanya said. Dasha obliged.

For some reason, Dasha only listened to Tanya, not Louisa.

"Well done, Charice! That's my younger sister for you!" Louisa grinned even wider, if that was possible.

"Thanks, you guys." Charice started smiling as well.

Smiles were contagious in the Lorrendos' house.

"Well done, little sis." Tanya congratulated.

"Yay for big sis!" Dasha yelled.

"So, who caught your eye, then?" Louisa asked, eyeing Charice.

"What? Nobody caught my eye, but I ended up having a staring contest with one of the spectators." Charice replied, punching Louisa lightly.

"Like that's true."

"It is!"

"Sure. Anyway, the next qualifier is on! You know, the one for the second Regular!" Louisa dragged Charice into the living room, and sat her down on the sofa.

Dasha sat down on the floor, while Tanya merely stood next to the couch.

Two bladers, one blond boy and one brown-haired girl, were battling it out in the very same arena that Charice had stood in thirty minutes ago.

Yet the girl seemed almost… invisible.

Charice was finding it hard to see whether she was actually there. It looked like she was transparent, like a ghost.

"The boy is called Alex, he's 14, and he uses a Lightning Accipiter, which is a hawk and the girl is called Mitsuki, she's 13, and uses a Rock Vulpecula, which is a fox. But none of them are as cool as Rock Wyvern!" Louisa explained, giving Charice a wink.

Rock Wyvern was Charice's beyblade, a very strong bey.

Wyvern had been Charice's bey since she had been 7. It was once her grandfather's, who had been one of the strongest bladers in his time.

Ever since she acquired Wyvern, her dream had been to be as strong as her grandfather.

Louisa and Dasha also had beys, but they only did local tournaments, whereas Tanya was a Beyblade Mechanic.

"Oh!" Dasha shouted. "Alex has won!"

"What? Charice, meet your second teammate!" Tanya nudged Charice.

"Tanya, they're all gonna be her teammates! It just means that one of them will be a sub, in case someone can't battle." Dasha told Tanya, who backed away.

"Ok! You know that I don't know as much on beyblade as you do!"

And with that, Tanya walked out, into the kitchen.

"So, in a few minutes, it'll be the next match, Mitsuki versus Miku."

"Miku?"

"The one that you battled."

"Oh, right."

**Thanks for reading! Review, please!**


	2. The Third Member and the Sub

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 2: The Third Member and the Sub

"3… 2... 1… LET IT RIP!"

The battle for the last place in Team Philippines as a Regular began, and the two beys met with a spark.

Mitsuki's bey, Rock Vulpecula, jumped a few feet into the air, landing with a miniature explosion.

Miku's bey, whose name Charice was unsure of, rocketed up to very close to the edge of the stadium, narrowly avoiding the explosion.

"Oh boy, that was a close one! Storm Lynx narrowly misses the explosion caused by Rock Vulpecula, as well as a stadium out!" The commentator shouted.

Lynx and Vulpecula circled each other, neither making any attempt to attack.

"Of course, Vulpecula is a Defence type, while Lynx is a Stamina type, so if this carries on, Mitsuki will lose with a sleep-out," This statement showed that Tanya had come back from the kitchen, "Popcorn, anyone?"

"Ooh, don't mind if I do!" Louisa stuffed a bit into her mouth. "You know that you're a know-it-all, don't you?"

"It's hard to forget, with you reminding me five times a day." Tanya chuckled.

"_Special move: Three Winds Sneak Attack!"_ The invisible girl ordered.

At this, Vulpecula disappeared, before reappearing just behind Lynx, with a flash of light. A whirlwind started, Vulpecula in the eye of the storm.

Lynx, however, was caught up in the buffeting winds, being thrown up into the air.

"It seems like Mitsuki is going to win this match!" The commentator cried.

"Like I'd let that happen! Special move: Storm Breaker!"

Lynx shot back towards the ground, a rainbow of colours following it. It hit Vulpecula right on, causing it to wobble dangerously.

Sparks flew as the collision continued.

Seconds passed with nothing else happening.

Then, there was a loud crash and a puff of smoke.

When the smoke cleared, one bey was still spinning, and the other one was lying, unmoving, at its blader's feet.

…

…

…

…

…

…

Lynx was still spinning!

"And the battle is over! Miku is the final Regular in Team Philippines! Mitsuki is the sub!" The commentator concluded.

Miku leapt up, punching the air in triumph.

"Anything to say, Miku?"

"WHOO!" Miku yelled into the microphone, and ran out of the arena, screaming her head off.

"I feel sorry for you, Charice; you have a mad person on your team." Louisa patted her back sympathetically.

"No worries - she's a good blader." Charice shrugged, turning the TV off.

"Tomorrow, you'll meet up with those three. I bet you something's going to go wrong." Tanya said, walking up the stairs to her room.

"Yeah, you'd better go get some dinner." Louisa said, before tailing after her elder sister.

"I'm hungry! What's for dinner?" Dasha whined.

"Popcorn?"

-XD-

"Charice! Hey, Charice, wake up!"

Charice was roughly shaken awake, and with a squeal, she fell onto the floor.

"What are you doing, sleeping on the sofa?"

Opening her eyes, Charice found herself face-to-face with Louisa.

She screamed.

"Oh come on! It's just me!" Louisa said, putting her hands on her hips.

"I know, but you scared me!"

"You're a scaredy-cat, you know that, right?"

Since it was 11 PM when they had finished dinner, Charice couldn't be bothered to go to her room, so instead, she dragged herself to the sofa.

She had fallen asleep immediately.

"I was too tired to go to my room, and I know you're a scaredy-cat." Charice retorted.

"I said that you were a scaredy-cat, genius."

"Why are you talking about yourself?" Charice teased, making Louisa growl and head to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Charice, how are you?" Tanya came downstairs, yawning.

"Fine, thanks, and you?" Charice replied, smiling.

Every morning, Tanya would end up talking formally, and then in the afternoon, she became informal. It was a habit of hers.

"Good, thank you." Tanya followed her sister's footsteps into the kitchen.

A few seconds later, Dasha came thundering down the stairs.

"I'm hungry! What's for breakfast?"

"Leftover popcorn."

…

…

…

…

"That joke's getting old, you know that, right?"

"Shut up, Louisa!"

"'Kay."

"Charice, do come here quickly." Tanya said, so Charice (and Dasha) tramped into the kitchen.

"What is it?"

"I have just acquired a message from the WBBA. It says to meet with the rest of your teammates at noon in the city park, near the fountain." Tanya replied.

"Oh right. Ok. And what time is it now?"

"Eleven thirty."

"… Gah! I don't have much time! Gotta go guys, bye!" Charice rushed out of the house.

…

…

…

"She's forgotten to put her shoes on." Louisa sweat-dropped.

"Hold on… 3… 2… 1… and…" Tanya counted down.

"Oh my gosh, I've forgotten my shoes!"

"Oh boy…"

"Good heavens…"

"Silly big sis!"


	3. Rock Lightning Storm

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 3: Rock Lightning Storm

"I'm going to be late!" Charice panted, sprinting down the street. Shoppers and tourists looked at her strangely.

She shot a quick glance at her watch: it was 11:59.

"NO!"

Quickening her pace, Charice turned into the park just as the clock changed to 12.

She slumped on a bench near the fountain, exhausted.

"I wonder where everyone else is."

…

…

…

…

…

"THIS IS THE WRONG PARK! I'M MEANT TO BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CITY!"

Even though she had lived in Manila all her life, Charice could never remember which park was which, the city park, or the small park closer to her house.

-XD-

Eventually **(1 hour later)**, Charice **(finally)** arrived at the right park **(well done)**.

"Shut up you stupid person-who-says-annoying-things-in-brackets!" Charice yelled.

"**(No.)"**

"I hate you…"

"**(I hate you too.)"** The person-who-says-annoying-things-in-brackets said.

"Anyway, I'm at the right park now, so where's the fountain?" Charice wandered around for a bit, before **(finally)** finding the fountain. "SHUT UP!"

"Um… who are you talking to?" Charice turned around to see the Blader named Alex.

"Don't worry. So, if you're here, then where are the others?"

"Mitsuki's sitting on the other side of the fountain, while Miku is off chasing a squirrel."

"… Seriously?"

"Yeah." Alex sweat-dropped, leading Charice over to the invisible girl.

"Hi there, Mitsuki, although I can't currently see you." Charice said when Alex stopped in front of the fountain.

"_Hi there."_

Suddenly, Mitsuki appeared out of nowhere.

"How can you do that?"

"_I don't know… I just will it to happen, and it does…"_ Mitsuki replied quietly._ "Alex, has Miku come back yet?"_

"No, unfortunately not."

At that moment, Miku appeared, and she certainly was chasing after a squirrel.

"Come back here, you bushy-tailed coward!" she screamed, brandishing her fist after the creature's retreating back. "Hi there, I'm Miku, but you should know that 'cause we fought earlier."

"Yeah…"

"Well then, now that we're all here, we can focus on what we came here for." Alex said.

"Which is…?" Charice trailed off.

"Our team name, and who the leader should be."

"It should be me!" Miku shouted, striking a hero's pose.

"And why?"

"'Cause I'm awesome."

"… No, just no. Ok, we're all going to vote, but you can't vote for yourself." Alex decided.

"Oh, fine. I think I'll vote for… the squirrel!" Miku grinned.

"Out of us three, Miku."

"Oh… fine. I vote for… Charice!"

Charice was shocked at this.

"Me? Why me?"

"Since you're strong, as well as awesome. I think she's the strongest of us all. I'd know, since I battled her."

"Ok, so one vote for Charice. Charice, who do you vote for?" Alex turned to said Blader.

"Um… Alex. Since he knows how to take control."

"Mitsuki?"

"_Charice."_

"I vote for Charice, too." Alex voted. "So Charice is the leader of Team Philippines."

"Huh?"

"And now, our team name." Alex quickly changed the subject before Charice could complain.

"Team Miku!"

"_Team Charice."_

"Come on guys, be more creative!"

"Hmm…" Charice thought back to the battles. Her and Mitsuki's beys were Rock Wyvern and Vulpecula, Alex's bey was a Lightning Accipiter, and Miku's a Storm Lynx. So… "How about Team Rock Lightning Storm?"

"Team Rock Lightning Storm? Long, but I like it." Alex commented.

"It's awesome!"

"_I like it, but how did you think of it?"_

"Easy: your bey and mine are both called 'Rock', Alex's is called 'Lightning', and Miku's is called 'Storm'. That simple." Charice explained, the other three nodding in understanding.

"I see. So from now on, we will be called Team Rock Lightning Storm!" Alex concluded. "Anyway, we'll have to meet up after we find out who we're battling, so we'd better exchange phone numbers."

And so, phone numbers were exchanged, and Team Lightning Storm, the representatives of Philippines, was formed.


	4. The Flight to Australia

**Thank you so much to memoranda and azure blue espeon for reviewing! You get free virtual cakes!**

**This is kinda a filler chapter… most of them will be, I think…**

**Read and Review please!**

**DISCLAIMER – I DO ****NOT ****OWN BEYBLADE, ONLY CHARICE, TEAM RLS AND THEIR BEYS, AND DASHA, LOUISA AND TANYA.**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 4: The Flight to Australia

It had been nearly a week since Charice had met up with her new team, yet she still hadn't heard anything from any of them.

She wondered if they were just not telling her. Maybe they were keeping her in the dark?

These thoughts kept racing through her mind.

What if they didn't want her on the team? What if they had decided to drop her?

Finally, on Thursday, Charice received a phone call from Alex.

"Hello, Charice, I have some news about our upcoming battle." Alex said.

"Which is…?"

"We are battling Team Web-Spinners, the Australian team."

"Ok! Are we fighting here, or are we going to Australia?"

"We're going to Austr-" His last words were drowned out by a shriek of joy from Charice.

"Sorry about that, but I've always wanted to go to Australia! Ever since I was young, I have!" Charice explained.

"Ok, then. We're leaving on Saturday, so see you then." Alex hung up.

Charice squealed to herself, before shouting up the stairs.

"Dasha! Tanya! Louisa! I'm going to Australia!"

Almost immediately, Dasha and Louisa came thundering down.

"Australia? No way!" Louisa yelled.

"You're so lucky!" Dasha squeaked.

"Australia? Good for you, little sis." Tanya's voice floated down the stairs.

"'Good for you'? Is that all you're going to say? She's going to Australia! " Louisa exclaimed.

"Yeah."

-XD-

Bursting with excitement, Charice pulled her deep-purple suitcase through the airport.

She was about to meet her fellow teammates.

Her sisters were coming to see her off.

"I envy you, I really do." Tanya scowled, crossing her arms.

"Oh, come on! It's only Australia!" Charice said.

"Only." Louisa repeated, giving Charice a glare.

"Yeah, only Australia."

"Charice, you're here!" Miku rushed up to the family. "Oh my gosh, you are adorable!" She said to Dasha, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug.

Waving to her friends, Charice walked over to Alex and Mitsuki.

Once again, the Sub was nearly invisible.

"Hi, Alex and Mitsuki." Charice addressed them.

"Hello. Fine weather, isn't it?" Alex replied.

"'Fine weather'? You're just as bad as my sister, Tanya!" Charice joked.

"What was that about me?" Tanya asked.

"Nothing!"

"_Ok… well, as soon as we get there, we should try and find some info on the Australian team. I mean, it'd be good to learn something about them."_ Mitsuki suggested quietly, suddenly becoming opaque again.

"Yeah, we should. The flight leaves in a few minutes, so you had better say goodbye to your family, Charice. Miku, let go of the innocent child." Alex sweatdropped, watching Miku cuddle poor Dasha to death.

"Never!"

"Well you guys, this is it. I'm going to Australia." Charice turned to her sisters (ignoring Miku's protests against Dasha being taken away from her).

"I hate you." Louisa said. "Just kidding, just kidding… have fun, lil' sis."

"As she said, have fun. And make sure you bring us back a victory!" Tanya agreed.

"I'll miss you, big sis!" Dasha managed to break free of Miku's grip ("Hey! Come back here!"), to give Charice a hug.

"I'll miss you too, Dasha." Charice smiled.

"Come on, we'd better go. We don't want to miss the plane." Alex said, and Team Rock Lightning Storm headed off to board their flight to Australia.

-XD-

"Flights bore me." Charice complained, as she flicked through the channels available on the plane's TV.

Miku and Mitsuki were sitting behind her, Alex on Charice's right (she had begged for the window seat), and an Egyptian boy with brown hair and orange bangs in front of her. He had strange orange markings underneath his emerald-green eyes. Next to the Egyptian, there was a green-haired boy with scars on both his cheeks, and blue eyes that matched the color of the sky outside the plane.

These two (that was, the ones in front of her unfortunately: Miku was talking extremely loudly), had been quiet for most of the short flight, speaking only to order drinks or food.

"Wow, I can't wait for the battle! I wonder what beys the Australian team is going to use. Anyway, we're going to win against them so bad!" Miku was saying noisily.

At this, the green-haired boy's head snapped around, and he peered through the gap in between the chairs.

"The Australian team? Beys? Going to win? You're all Bladers, aren't you?" He eyed them.

"Yeah, so what if we are, random-stranger-who-I-cannot-see?" Miku challenged from behind Charice.

"Nothing, nothing at all." The boy smirked.

"Who are you?" Charice asked.

"What does it matter to you?" He replied, smirking even more.

"I'm Nile, and this is Kyoya." The Egyptian finally spoke up.

"Wha-? Nile, why did you tell them?" Kyoya's smirk vanished immediately. Charice had to stifle a giggle.

"They have a right to know. Now, you tell us your names." Nile said, gazing into Charice's violet eyes.

"I'm Charice, this is Alex, the noisy one is Miku, and the other one is Mitsuki. We're Team Rock Lightning Storm, the Beyblade representatives of Philippines." Charice answered, staring into Nile's green eyes in defiance.

"What? Charice, whaddya tell 'em that for?" Miku screeched, waking up Alex.

"What? What happened now?" Alex questioned groggily, blinking sleep from his eyes.

"_Don't worry, go back to sleep."_ Mitsuki said gently, and Alex obliged instantly.

"We're Team Wild Fang, Savannah's Bladers." Nile said. "The other team members are back in Africa. We came to watch Australia's battle to-"

"Why don't you shut up, Nile? They know enough already." Kyoya interrupted. Nile grumbled, but said nothing more.

"Well, it was nice chatting to you." Charice said politely, as the intercom informed them that they would be landing shortly.

"Yeah. It was." Nile muttered under his breath, meant only for Charice to hear.

If Kyoya heard it, he didn't say anything.

"See you around town, maybe?" Charice said to Nile, who nodded slightly.

"Yes. If Kyoya even lets me out of the hotel." Nile waved them goodbye, and followed Kyoya off of the plane.

"He's nice: I like him."

**What do you think? Nile and Kyoya weren't originally supposed to be here, but hey presto, and they're there. I was going to have them appear, so I guess this is a perfect place to put them in.**

**OH LOOKS! IT'S A PRETTY REVIEW BOX! Click on it and review, and I'll give you… um… FREE KYOYAS! o3o**


	5. Team WebSpinners

**THANK YOU SO MUCH TO azure blue espeon, Darker Dusk, and ANimEisAweSOmE4400! You all get free Kyoyas! *Hands them out* I'm keeping one, though!**

**This is another filler, other than the fact that most of Team Web-Spinners are introduced.**

**I need to know, do you guys mind yaoi? I might just have to use it later…**

**DISCLAIMER – I DON'T OWN BEYBLADE, ONLY CHARICE, TEAM RLS AND THEIR BEYS, TEAM WEB-SPINNERS AND THEIR BEYS (GRANT, RENEE, JENNIFER AND AADEN)!**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 5: Team Web-Spinners

Charice dragged her suitcase into the lift after her fellow teammates.

They were all the way up on floor 12, room 679.

Whoop-de-doo.

If the hotel didn't have lifts, Charice would've died before they had reached the room.

That day was spent unpacking, and they had dinner down at the restaurant.

-XD-

As the team walked into the breakfast hall, Charice noticed a familiar Egyptian sitting at one of the many glass tables, along with another person she didn't know.

Charice started off towards Nile.

"Charice, where are you going?" Alex asked.

"Don't worry; I'll catch up with you later." Charice waved goodbye, and ran over to meet the boy. "Hey! Nile!" She called, causing said Blader to turn around in surprise.

"Oh, hi Charice. I didn't think you'd be staying in this hotel as well."

"Yep! So, what do you think of it? The hotel, I mean."

"It's alright." Nile answered, shrugging.

"'Alright'? It's a five star hotel and you say that it's alright?" Charice's eyes widened and she sat down in a vacant chair.

"Fine, it's pretty awesome."

"That's better. Nile, shouldn't you introduce me?"

"What do you mean? Oh right, Grant meet Charice, Charice meet Grant. He's part of the Australian team."

"The Australian team? You mean Team Web-Spinners?" Charice repeated.

"Yeah, you know us?" Grant said in a thick Australian accent.

"Of course I do: you're the ones we're fighting in the first round!"

"That means… you're part of Team Philippines! Team Rock Lightning Storm!" Grant exclaimed.

"Yep, that's me! And not just a member, I'm the leader!"

"No way!" Nile said. "You never told me and Kyoya that!"

"Didn't I? Oops!"

"Grant! Who are you talking to?" Two girls came up to Grant, one with long purple hair, the other with medium-length blue hair.

"This is Nile from Team Wild Fang, and this is Charice from Team Rock Lightning Storm. Nile, Charice, meet Renee and Jennifer. These two are part of Team Australia as well. Jennifer's the Sub. Where's Aaden?" Grant introduced the girls to Nile and Charice.

"Aaden? Probably busy satisfying his fangirls." Renee (the purple-haired girl) said with a small huff.

"Not again! He should be training!" Grant groaned.

"Oh well, if he doesn't train, then can I take his place in the battles?" Jennifer asked hopefully.

"I guess…"

"Yay!"

"We're no longer a part of this, are we?" Charice whispered to Nile.

"No, I don't think so… we should leave."

"I'm with you."

Unnoticed, the two of them crept away from the table.

"Say, want to go explore?" Charice's eyes shone brightly.

"It wouldn't hurt to, since Kyoya's still asleep." Nile grinned.

"Kyoya's still asleep? It's eleven o'clock!" Charice giggled.

"He needs 'his beauty sleep', literally quoting him." Nile sniggered.

The two of them laughed as they made their way down the elaborately decorated hallway to the swimming pool.

-XD-

"Whoa! This swimming pool is epic!"

Charice and Nile were gazing out across crystal-clear water, the swimming pool complete with slides, water-spraying-thingies, a kid's zone and an adult's calm zone, little islands in the middle (with palm trees in the middle of them: "Eek!"), and it must have been at least 30 foot squared.

"Suddenly, I want to go swimming." Nile stated.

"Yeah…"

"Enjoying yourselves?" The twosome turned around to see Grant headed towards them. "You can swim if you want."

"I know, but I didn't bring my swimming costume!" Charice cried.

"Too bad. I've got swimming trunks." Nile smirked.

"…I hate you… I WANT TO GO SWIMMING!"

-XD-

Sobbing, Charice sat on a deck chair as Nile, Grant, Renee, Jennifer, Miku, Mitsuki, Alex and Kyoya (who had finally woken up) swam in the gigantic swimming pool.

"Ha hah! Too bad! Next time, bring your swimming costume!" Miku had laughed at the pained look on Charice's face.

"Nothing I can do about it." Alex and Mitsuki had said.

Meanwhile, Kyoya had just shrugged.

Nile hadn't said anything; he'd just grinned and dived into the pool.

Sniffing, Charice watched as Nile did a perfect backflip into the pool.

-XD-

"Now that was awesome." Nile commented.

"Tell me about it!" Miku shouted.

"It was great." Alex said.

"_That was really fun." _Mitsuki said.

"Mm." Kyoya grunted in agreement.

"Glad you guys liked it." Grant smiled.

…

…

…

"I HATE YOU GUYS!" Charice screamed, and ran up to her room, without using the lift.

"That's a shame: I was starting to like you!" Renee shouted after Charice.

"There's a lift- ah, she's gone." Alex started to yell after her.

"Her loss." Miku snickered.

**THANKS FOR READING! REVIEW AND I'LL GIVE YOU FREE NILE PLUSHIES! I mean, that review box just looks so… shiny… o3o**


	6. Aaden

**Sorry for taking so long to update! It's just that my school term has started again…**

**THANK YOU TO: azure blue espeon, Darker Dusk, ****ANimEisAweSOmE4400****, and The-Gray-Ninja! Here are your Nile plushies!**

**Just to let you know, this story happens as if the main canon never happened. I don't want to say anymore; otherwise I'll give it away…**

**The first battle will be in um… about 3 chappies time, so watch this space!**

**DISCLAIMER – I am not saying it again. I own my OCs, not beyblade.**

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 6: Aaden

"We should totally explore Sydney!" Miku shouted.

"No, Miku, we shouldn't. We can do that after we find out some information on Team Web-Spinners."

"I've got something." Charice said quietly.

"_What?" _Mitsuki asked.

"It's those guys who were hanging out with us in the pool and one more. Jennifer, the one with blue hair, is the sub. They have one more member, who's called Aaden, and he doesn't train and likes to satisfy his fangirls."

"They were Team Web-Spinners?"

"Yes, and I think I can guess what beys they use. If you think of their name, what animals spin webs? Spiders, that's what. So I think that they use beys called 'Arachnids'. I've heard of them, and they're supposed to be very intimidating beys."

"…I'm impressed." Alex said.

"So… can we go explore now?"

"NO!"

-XD-

"You want me to do what?"

Team Rock Lightning Storm was asking Nile if he could help them.

"We want you to go and check what beys the Australian team uses." Alex explained again.

"Why can't you?"

"Because they know that we're their opponents, so it's unlikely that they'll willingly tell us."

"…Fine. Only if Charice comes with me, though."

"What?"

"It's my only condition." Nile shrugged. "Nothing else."

"But… why me?" Charice pouted.

"Because you're my friend."

"They know that Charice is our leader, therefore, they won't tell you with her around. Come on, Nile, please." Alex reasoned.

Before answering, Nile thought for a long time – a very long time.

"No."

"_Why not?"_ Mitsuki questioned.

"Because you're not the boss of me, and we're not even on the same team." Nile replied smugly.

"JUST DO IT, ALREADY!" Miku shrieked.

"Ok, ok! But only because she scares me! Charice still has to come, though."

"Grr… fine!"

-XD-

"Hey, Grant!" Nile called.

"Hmm? Oh, hey Nile, Charice. Seen Aaden around anywhere?"

"Aaden? We don't even know what he looks like." Charice said, cocking her head.

"You're right. Well, don't worry, then. So, what did you come here for?"

"Um…" Nile trailed off.

"Nile here wanted to see your bey. Yeah, and I'm going out… shopping! We just met up so I walked here with him. Uh, so bye!" Charice quickly ran out of the hotel.

"Yeah, I wanted to see your bey." Nile went along with Charice's idea.

"Ok." Grant shrugged.

-XD-

"I said that I was going shopping, although I don't have any money _or _any clue where the shops are. Great." Charice was talking to herself, when she came across a bunch of girls crowding around someone. "What happened? Did someone die?" She asked someone nearby.

"No, it's just that big-headed Aaden again." The person answered, and walked off.

"Aaden?" Charice rushed over to the crowd. "Oi, you in the middle there! Aaden!"

The group parted to reveal a brown-haired boy with red eyes, wearing a green ninja style shirt with purple and gold trimming, black pants, black wrist bands and purple and green boots.

"A new fangirl, eh?" Aaden grinned.

"You wish. I'm Charice Lorrendos, and I'm here to challenge you to a bey battle!" Charice yelled, holding up Rock Wyvern.

"A bey battle? Nah, can't be bothered. Anyway, like you could give me a decent fight."

"What, are you thinking that I won't give you a good fight because I'm a girl?" Charice challenged.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, I'll show you! I'm stronger than you think!"

"Everyone says that, and they're not all that strong." Aaden scoffed.

"Battle me! If I'm not very strong, then it shouldn't take long, and you can get back to your… well… whatever you're doing!"

"Fine! But I'm only doing it because you're really bugging me!"

"Thank you."

-XD-

"3… 2… 1… LET IT RIP!"

"Go, Flame Arachnid!"

"Wyvern, show them your stuff!"

Wyvern and Arachnid clashed with a loud **CRASH!**, before shooting off to the opposite sides of the street. They quickly began circling each other.

"Let's finish this quickly, 'cause I'm bored. Arachnid, Poison String Shot!"

The fangirls who had gathered around the streets gasped loudly.

"That's one of his best moves!" One of them hissed.

"You're going down!" Another cheered.

A large, black spider appeared.

"Gah! Spider!" Charice whimpered.

"What, you scared of a wittle spider?" Aaden teased.

"Little? That's gargantuan!" Charice cried, frozen to the spot.

Every time Charice saw a spider, she (usually) screamed and ran away. But she couldn't run away in the middle of a bey battle.

Yet she couldn't move, or scream. Her mouth wouldn't move; she couldn't issue an order.

"Not going to make a move, huh? Arachnid, release it!"

The spider shot a white, sticky liquid from its mouth, towards Wyvern.

Charice tried to order Wyvern to dodge, but no sound came out from her mouth.

Wyvern took the blow: a direct hit.

Dust whirled around the street, obscuring the beys from view.

Coughing, Charice shielded her face, hoping for the best, expecting the worst.

When the dust cleared, Charice's heart sank.

Wyvern had stopped spinning.

"Told you that it would be boring. You weren't even worth my time!" Aaden caught his bey, before starting to walk away.

"Aaden! You will be my opponent in the battle in two days, you got that? And I promise you, I'll defeat you then!" Charice vowed, and then ran back to the hotel.

"Battle in two days? Does she mean the Philippines vs. Australia? But… she can't be… a member of Team RLS?"

**NYAAS! CHARICE WAS DEFEATED! … continue.**

**If yas review, I'll give yas a Da Xiang plushie, da?**

**REVIEW BOX! WOW, IT PRETTY…**


	7. With Kyoya's Help?

**THANK YOU TO: DARKER DUSK, THE-GRAY-NINJA AND AZURE BLUE EPSEON! YOU ALL GET… what was it? A DA XIANG PLUSHIE! EENJOY THE GIANT HAIR!**

**I think you'll like this chappie. Kyoya appears again! Finally…**

**AI YAA YAA! … THE AUTHORESS IS LISTENING TO AIYAH YONSENNEN, AKA AIYAH FOUR THOUSAND YEARS, A HETALIA CHARACTER SONG FOR CHINA BECAUSE SHE THINKS IT IS AWESOME.**

**I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE OR POKEMON, ONLY MY OCS AND THEIR BEYS!**

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 7: With Kyoya's Help?

"WHAT? You lost?" The other three members of Rock Lightning Storm screeched, as Charice finished her explanation of her battle against Aaden.

"Well… it's only because…"

"Because what?"

"Because I was right! Their beys, or at least Aaden's, are Arachnids! I'm dead scared of spiders!" Charice admitted.

"_Spiders?"_

"Yeah!"

"So? It doesn't explain why you lost!" Miku huffed.

"During the battle, I just froze: I couldn't more, let alone issue an order to Wyvern! How was I supposed to fight Aaden when I was frightened of his bey?"

Silence took hold of the room.

"Guys! Charice was right! Their beys are Arachnids!" Nile burst in through the door, panting.

"We just heard." Miku deadpanned.

"How?"

"Charice here battled Aaden, and lost."

"WHAT? You lost?"

"I don't want to have to go through it again…" Charice groaned. "I'm going to bed, night." She left.

"It's only four o'clock!" Nile yelled.

"Meh!"

-XD-

"Is Charice alright? I mean, she's locked herself in her room and she won't come out." Nile asked.

"It must be a shock, losing so badly." Alex answered. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's not the same for the next few days."

"That's not good! We might need Charice for the competition, and she can't fight as the empty shell that she is right now! We need to get her out of there!" Miku shouted, leaping on to the sofa, striking a hero's pose. "Nile, Alex, you two launch your beys at her bedroom door! That way, we'll be able to get her out of there! Ok?"

"Is that really necessary?" Alex and Nile sweatdropped.

"Yes, yes it is!"

-XD-

"What? Where is she?"

Nile and Alex had bust down the door, only to find that Charice wasn't in there.

"But… we didn't see her coming out…"

"_Look! The window's open!"_

"This can only mean one thing…"

"She was kidnapped! By aliens!" Miku cried.

"Um… no."

-XD-

Out of the corner of his eye, Kyoya noticed a certain purple-haired girl sneaking out of the hotel.

He decided to follow her since she didn't seem to want to be seen, something had to be wrong.

Kyoya tailed after her, trying to act casual (basically stuffing his hands in his pockets, keeping his head down and closing his eyes).

Charice walked into a shopping mall.

'_Shopping? Great, just what I need.'_ Kyoya thought bitterly.

Still, he followed her in, attempting to ignore the fact that he was in a shopping mall, a place where he swore that he would never enter without a good reason.

Charice soon stopped at a KFC, and went to order some food.

Only when she had sat down to eat a triple-layer burger, Kyoya entered, sitting next to her.

"Kyoya? What are you doing here?"

"I followed you since you were sneaking out. I thought that something was wrong." Kyoya grunted.

"Hmm? Nothing's wrong, don't worry."

"Is that so? You're stuffing your face with a triple-layer burger."

"Good point. You're right. Something is wrong. I'll start from the beginning."

So Charice explained to Kyoya what had happened, while Kyoya listened intently.

"My teammates seem to think that I'm so strong that if I lose, we have no hope whatsoever!" Charice finished, burying her head in her burger.

"And all this has happened because of a fear of spiders." Kyoya thought for a moment. "Come with me."

"Why?"

"I might just have the perfect solution."

-XD-

"A plush spider? Seriously? You're buying me a plush spider." Charice sweatdropped.

"It's from an anime, Pokémon or something like that. Ariados? Yeah, that's its name." Kyoya held up the plush. "It's supposed to make you feel more used to spiders. Charice? Where are you?"

He found her hiding behind a shelf, quivering.

"Spider…" She pointed at a small eight-legged creature dangling from the ceiling.

"…Ok, we're going to need another plan."

-XD-

"Come on, Charice, get in there! I'm trying to help, you know."

Now, they were outside a pet shop (which sold spiders, fortunately), and Kyoya was trying to convince Charice to even go into the shop.

"Nuh-uh! There's loads of spiders in there!"

"Charice! Do you want to be able to fight Aaden and win?"

"How'd you find out about that?"

"I have my ways. Now get in there!" Kyoya smirked.

"Grr… fine!"

She entered the shop.

A second later, she ran out squealing.

"They were all staring at me with six eyes each!" She squeaked.

"Of course they were staring at you: they can't blink!" Kyoya facepalmed.

-XD-

"Ok, I'm going to show you a picture of a spider, and you're going to tell me what scares you."

Kyoya had grown so desperate that he decided to take Charice to a specialist.

"Everything!"

"Ok, this isn't working…"

-XD-

"Nuh-uh, no way."

"Charice! If you want to win against Aaden, you have to at least try to get over your fear! Or are you really that much of a wimp?" Kyoya knew that if he could just provoke her enough… "I guess you really are a coward. A scaredy-cat. A weakling. A chicken."

"**SHUT UP!"** Charice screamed. The ferocity of her shriek surprised him. **"JUST SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"**

"What don't I know?"

"_How much I've had to go through… just to prove my strength…" _Suddenly, Charice went quiet. _"All the sweat and blood… they… they never… made it easy… _**I HAD TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN!"**

**NYEH HEH HE! CHARICE HAS LOST IT! I'M SO EVIL! Yeah, it'll all be resolved next chapter. Maybe. :3**

**I'll give you… a Chao Xin plushie if you review? Cuz I mean, that review box is **_**such**_** a nice shade of blue… X3**


	8. Charice's Past

**THANK YOU TO BESS9200, DARKER DUSK, THE-GRAY-NINJA AND AZURE BLUE EPSEON FOR REVIEWING! YOU GET… DA XIANG PLUSHIES? No, that was last time. YOU GET CHAO XIN PLUSHIES! YEAH!**

**So… in this chappie, you find out a bit more about Charice's past. Derp. I'm a snake. Actually, I'm a dragon. Derp. Dragons are awesome. Anyway, enjoy.**

**DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE, OR ELSE I WOULD NOT BE WRITING THIS!**

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 8: Charice's Past

"_How much I've had to go through… just to prove my strength…" Suddenly, Charice went quiet. "All the sweat and blood… they… they never… made it easy… __**I HAD TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH PAIN!"**_

At once, Kyoya knew that Charice was thinking about her childhood, but what about, he didn't know. He knew that he shouldn't press her anymore, yet this could be his chance to find out what made Charice scared of spiders.

"Why? What happened?"

"_They… they destroyed my… first bey..." _Charice whimpered.

"Your first bey? So Wyvern wasn't your first bey?"

"_No… it was… Earth… Earth Leone…" _Charice let out a sob.

"L-leone?"

"_It used to be… one of the best beys in Philippines while I was young… and… I was challenged all the time. _There's nothing wrong with that." Charice's voice grew stronger. "But one day, I was tricked into an ambush. Hundreds of beys were launched at me, and during the assault, Leone was destroyed. The leader of the ambush's bey was an Arachnid, which started my phobia, I guess you could say.

"Meanwhile, I was badly injured, in more ways than mentally, with lots of cuts and scratches along my arms and legs. In fact, I even broke my wrist, when I fell and landed on it. I had to stop blading for a whole year, in case I injured it again. After that year, I went through several beyblades, but none of them lived up to my standards. Then, my… _granddad… passed away…" _Charice trailed off. "And he left me his bey, Rock Wyvern. Now, Wyvern is a bey like no other. Its fusion wheel can enhance both its attacks and its defence, though I don't know how. On top of all that, Wyvern can spin both ways. But I usually use right spin.

"That's why I'm really scared of spiders. I'm scared that the same thing that happened to Earth Leone will happen to Rock Wyvern… I know it shouldn't affect me, but it just does. I can't explain it." Charice finished.

Kyoya stood in silence. This was overwhelming him. One minute, Charice was refusing to say anything, and the next, she was spilling everything.

"I don't know how to get over my fear, though."

"Hmm… this has just given me an idea." Kyoya finally said and grinned, showing his gleaming white fangs.

-XD-

"You want to borrow my beyblade? Why?"

Kyoya's 'great' idea was to borrow Grant's beyblade and use it to help Charice's blading against Arachnids.

"I want to use it for blading practice."

"Why? You're a blader; you have your own bey."

"Just give me the bey!" Kyoya demanded.

"Ok…"

-XD-

"Ready Charice?" Kyoya attached Poison Arachnid to his launcher.

"Not really but I don't have a choice." Charice replied.

Trembling, Charice fastened Rock Wyvern on to her launcher.

"3… 2… 1… LET IT RIP!"

"I promise I'll go easy on you, Charice!"

"That's not what I want."

"Huh?"

"I want you to give it all you've got since that's how Aaden's going to fight, isn't he? He's not going to go easy on me, not in the Beyblade World Championships!"

"Your choice. Arachnid, show her your power! _And show me too, in case I have to fight you later."_ Kyoya added in an undertone.

A gigantic tarantula appeared.

"Wyvern, crush that spider!"

Charice's beast, an enormous purple dragon (a wyvern) roared its cry for all to hear.

'_Amazing! It's like Charice has already forgotten her fear of spiders!' _Kyoya thought.

He checked Grant's list of special moves.

"Arachnid, Poison Missile!" Kyoya ordered.

Several violet missile-like things shot out of Arachnid's gaping mouth, as it clicked threateningly at Wyvern.

"Wyvern! Dodge it!" Charice smiled. It was so different when fighting one of her friends instead of an enemy: it was much more fun and enjoyable. Plus, when she saw Kyoya issuing orders to the spider, it was less scary than some random stranger doing it.

Wyvern obliged, and it zigzagged in between the missiles, dodging each one with ease.

"Wyvern! Attack!"

The purple beast let out another roar, before charging towards the spider, sharp claws outstretched, teeth bared menacingly.

"Arachnid, counter-attack!"

Arachnid screeched, and rushed towards the attacking Wyvern, fangs gleaming in the daylight.

Sparks flew as the two beys clashed head on, seemingly equal in power.

Then, Wyvern fell back, before continuing its assault, stronger than ever.

Slowly, Arachnid was pushed backwards, towards the edge of the practice stadium.

"Arachnid, Mud Sheet!"

At once, the stadium around the two beys turned to mud, causing Wyvern's attack to falter, also allowing Arachnid to escape.

Arachnid glided over the mud like it was nothing.

It attacked Wyvern while it was weak, making it wobble dangerously.

"No! Wyvern! Um…" Charice thought.

'_Let's see… Arachnid is a Balance type, so its defence and attack are balanced, but what about its stamina? Maybe, if I go into defence mode…'_

"Wyvern, head to the middle of the stadium!"

Wyvern steadied itself, before gliding towards the centre.

"What, going on defensive? That won't work! Arachnid, Mud Sheet, again!"

Once again, the stadium floor around Arachnid turned to mud, as it headed towards Wyvern.

"Wyvern! Spread your wings!"

"What?"

Just before Arachnid hit it, Wyvern jumped up into the air, spinning gracefully.

"But how?" Kyoya asked, befuddled.

"You see, Wyvern has a special performance tip that allows it to jump into the air from an unmoving position. I can't really explain it, so… ATTACK!"

Wyvern sped back towards the ground vertically, aiming straight at the top of Arachnid.

The beys met with a crash and dust filled the air.

As the dust cleared, it could be seen clearly that Wyvern was the winner, spinning next to Arachnid, which was now embedded in the stadium surface.

"Yay!" Charice caught Wyvern happily, and went over to help Kyoya wrench Arachnid out of the stadium ground.

"Well done; it seems like my training's done." Kyoya smiled slightly, standing up. "I think you'll do fine against Aaden." He turned to leave.

"Wait! Before you leave and change back into your usual grumpy self, I want to ask you one thing, and tell you one thing! The question is: why were you even in Philippines?"

"Why? Isn't it obvious? We wanted to see what we were up against."

'_Yep, he's gone back to his moody self.'_

"And I wanted to say thank you. For everything, Kyoya."

"It was nothing." Kyoya stuck his hand in his pocket, held up a hand in farewell, and left.

"Wow. Talk about bipolar. Huh. Well, I'd better get back to the hotel. Bet Nile and those guys are freaking out." Charice shrugged, following Kyoya out of the bey stadium.

-XD-

"HOW ON EARTH DID YOU JUMP OUT OF A 12 STORY HIGH BUILDING AND SURVIVE WITHOUT BREAKING ANYTHING?" Miku yelled at Charice as she entered the dorm.

"Eh? I dunno… I just did it…" Charice answered, glancing at Nile.

Said Blader was gazing out of the window, seemingly oblivious to the conversation.

"'You just did it'? That's not an answer!"

"Miku, come off it. Shouldn't you be more worried about the tournament tomorrow? We need to decide who's fighting who." Alex said.

"I'm fighting Aaden." Charice said at once, causing everyone to whirl around to face her.

"_But you're supposed to fight Grant!" _Mitsuki cried.

"I'm sorry, but I promised him. Plus, I want revenge."

"Ooh! I dibs Gr-" Miku started, but was cut off by Alex.

"I'll fight anybody."

"Hey! I was going to say-"

"_Can I fight Grant, then?" _Mitsuki asked.

"Ooh… fine! I'll wait 'til the next round! These guys will probably not be worth fighting, anyway!" Miku pouted, although she looked excited at the thought of her next battle.

"Then it's settled: we'll give it all we've got!"

"Yeah!" The team chorused.

"I feel that I'm being ignored." Nile puffed.

**You likey? You review, you get Aaden plushie. You no review, you no get Aaden plushie. Simples.**

**SO! THE NEXT CHAPPIE HAS THE BATTLE! Well, the first one. Yeah. I'm not a snake. I'm a dragon. I'm a wyvern. Continue scrolling down and click on that nicely shaded review box, and you'll be a wyvern too! XD**


	9. The Hawk's Terrifying Talons

**HI! THANK YOU TO:** **ANimEisAweSOmE4400****, Darker Dusk, Bess9200 and The-Gray-Ninja! You all get Aaden plushies! And ****ANimEisAweSOmE4400**** also gets a Da Xiang and a Chao Xin plushie because she reviewed late. But yeah. Derp.**

**FINALLY! THE FIRST BATTLE! YOU HAPPY, DA?**

**DISCLAIMER - I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BUT MY OCs!**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 9: The Hawk's Terrifying Talons

Yawning, Charice leapt out of bed, threw on some clothes, and ran out of her dorm to greet anyone who was in the living room part of their hotel room.

**A/N – Confusing, much?**

Outside, Alex and Mitsuki were sitting on the couch, watching TV. Nile was out on the balcony, gazing across Australia. Nile had come to their room so often that he practically lived there. The reason was unknown to Charice, but she enjoyed a change from the loud and obnoxious Miku, and the quiet Mitsuki and Alex. Currently, there was no sign of Miku.

"Where's-"

"Miku? She's gone out shopping. Crazy, shopping before a tournament. God." Alex cut in, not taking his eyes off of the TV.

"Ah." Charice went to the kitchen, made a bowl of cereal, then went out to talk to Nile. "Nile, I've been wondering: why do you always stay in our room?"

"Hmm? … Because it's nice to have a change from the company of Kyoya. Seriously, he hardly ever talks to me." Nile replied.

"Really? He was actually fun to hang out with yesterday. Well, before we battled, at least." Charice said.

"Yeah, battles just make him even more serious."

Silence took hold of the two of them.

"Charice? Good luck in the battle." Nile finally said, before turning around and heading back into the room.

-XD-

"Welcome to the first round of the A Block Beyblade World Championships! Today is the battle against Team Web-Spinners, our very own team from Australia, and Team Rock Lightning Storm, aka Team Philippines!" The Australian DJ announced, nearly falling off his stand in his excitement.

"Here comes Team Web-Spinners! There they are: Grant McLeod, Renee Robertson, Aaden Taylor and Jennifer Zadow! I wonder who's going first. And here are Team RLS: Charice Lorrendos, Alex Santos, Miku Layosa and Mitsuki Malicsi!

"The teams are at their stands, so let's start the match!"

"Aaden! I'm fighting you, remember?" Charice called over to the brunette, who grinned in response.

"Like I'd forget!"

"Oh, there already seems to be a battle decided for later! Aaden versus Charice! So, who is going to battle now?"

"Alex, you go first." Charice said to Alex.

"Hmm? Why me?"

"I trust you to bring us an early win. If we do get this, then I'll fight Aaden next, 'kay?"

"Okay…" Alex jumped down from the stand, and walked over to the edge of the bey stadium.

"Team RLS have chosen! Who's Team Web-Spinners going to choose?"

"Renee. You're up."

She nodded, before calmly making her way down the stairs to much cheering from the crowds.

When Charice scanned the roaring crowds, Kyoya and Nile seemed to be the only people not cheering for Team Web-Spinners.

"Alright! The first battle will be between Renee Robertson and Alex Santos! How exciting!"

"3… 2… 1… LET IT RIP!" The two started the battle without even exchanging a word.

"Earth Arachnid, show them your stuff!"

"Go, Lightning Accipiter, give us a win!"

The two beys circled each other, neither attempting to attack.

"Of course, Accipiter is an Attack type, while Arachnid is a Stamina type, so Alex will lose if he carries on like this!"

"Too scared to attack?" Renee taunted.

"You wish! Use Drilling Peck, Accipiter!"

Accipiter shot forwards, faster than lightning, as its beast, a hawk, appeared. Stabbing with its sharpened beak, Accipiter skated around Arachnid, pecking at every bit that it could hit.

"Arachnid! Mud Sheet!" Renee called.

"Alex, get out of there!" Charice yelled. "The area around Arachnid's going to turn to mud!"

"How do you know that?" Renee snarled.

"Accipiter, fly! Spread your wings!"

Accipiter rushed up to the edge of the stadium, and glided up into the air. The hawk appeared again, this time flying up out of the stadium.

"No matter. Arachnid, Mud Shot!"

"Alex! Dodge it!" Charice shouted, gripping the rail along the stand.

"Shut up, will you!" Renee growled.

"She's right, Charice." Alex said. "This is my battle."

"I… I understand. Do your best, Alex." Charice smiled.

"Accipiter! Lightning Talon Strike!" Alex ordered.

Blue lightning surrounded the hawk as it dived out of the sky, talons outstretched.

Accipiter hit Arachnid full on, causing a cloud of dust to cover the stadium.

"Seems like I win!" Alex grinned.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Renee smirked, when the dust finally cleared.

"WHAT?"

"Arachnid has surprised us all! It... IT'S STILL SPINNING!" The Australian DJ cried, echoing everybody's thoughts.

"Accipiter!"

Accipiter was now wobbling rather dangerously, Arachnid still spinning at what seemed to be full speed.

"How, I hear you ask, did I do that? It's in the name, dummy. _Earth _Arachnid. Arachnid can basically create a stone wall to protect itself. Simple as that." Renee sneered.

'_No… this can't be…'_

"Arachnid, attack now!"

'_No… I will not… be beaten… I must bring back a win. I MUST NOT be beaten!'_

"**Accipiter, attack!"**

"Alex! What are you doing? You'll use up the last of Accipiter's strength!" Charice asked frantically.

"**I ****WILL NOT**** LOSE! I WILL NOT BE BEATEN! I WILL WIN!"**

Accipiter was suddenly bathed in a dark blue aura, and its beast soared up into the air, surrounded in the same blue. On top of its new colour, Accipiter's beak looked deadlier, and its talons… were sharper than ever, and were covered in a sticky red liquid. Blood.

It let out a loud screech, then circled the stadium, making everyone duck in terror.

"**Accipiter! Dark Lightning Talon Terror Strike!" **'Alex' roared, the dark blue aura around him too.

Accipiter squawked, before spiralling towards the ground; towards Arachnid.

"Arachnid!" Renee screamed.

* * *

**I IS EVIL-ER THAN LAST TIME! Yeah, I know, rip off of Tsubasa. Still… IT WILL BE A DIFFERENT CAUSE, NOT THE DARK POWER!**

**No worries, Renee's ok… maybe… o3o**

**I'm listening to ****Aiyah Yonsennen, a Hetalia song. ISHT SAD! :'( BUT I DO LOVE CHINA AND JAPAN! THEN I HATE JAPAN FOR STABBING CHINA!**

… **You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?**

**The battles will probably mean longer chapters… like this one, aru! … I love China so much that I use his tic at the end of sentences now, aru! This is what happens when you get attached to a character, aru.**

**QUESTIONS!**

**YI! Why does Nile **_**REALLY **_**hang out at Team RLS' place?**

**ER! What's happened to Alex and Accipiter?**

**RANDOM QUESTION! Do you like China?**

**SAN! Who will win: Charice or Aaden?**

**SI! Who do you think the winner of this round will fight?**

**I'll give you an Alex plushie if you review, aru! I'll give you a cookie if you can tell me what language the numbers for the questions up there are, aru!**

**CLUE: WHAT DOES CHINA SPEAK ARU? (IT'S THE SIMPLIFIED VERION!) **


	10. And Enter Dashan Wang!

**HIYA! I KNOW I UPDATED YESTERDAY, BUT WHAT THE HECK? WHO CARES? So… yeah.**

**Please answer the questions down there… I mean, you just have to put the numbers and put your answer…**

**I know, since I'm updating so soon, if you review for the last chapter after this one's been posted, you can still get the Alex plushie!**

**ANimEisAweSOmE4400, Bess9200 and The-Gray-Ninja get Alex plushies! But remember, review for chappie 9 late and you still get the plushie!**

**ANimEisAweSOmE4400 also gets a cookie for telling me the language of the question numbers! If you can tell me the language this time, you get a cookie too!**

**DISCLAIMER – ME NO OWN ANYTHING BUT OCs. NUFF SAID.**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 10: And Enter Da Xiang!

There was a loud BANG, and a huge dust cloud covered the stadium.

"A **GIANT** dust cloud has covered the stadium! Nobody can see a thing! **What has happened?**" The Australian DJ yelled, squinting at the stadium.

As the dust cleared, it could be easily be told that it was the end of the battle... 'ALEX' HAD WON!

But Renee was lying motionlessly on the floor, unconscious, Earth Arachnid beside her.

Lightning Accipiter was still spinning, the dark blue aura around it disappearing.

'Alex' was standing, grinning like a maniac.

**"Alex! What did you do?"** Charice shouted.

"I won… I brought back a win!" 'Alex' giggled, before collapsing into a heap on the floor.

Accipiter flew back to Alex's open hand.

"Th-the battle is over! Alex has won, but both bladers have fallen unconscious! We'll have to postpone the next battle until tomorrow!"

**"Alex!"** The members of Team RLS ran over to their fallen teammate, while Team Web-Spinners rushed over to theirs.

**"Renee!"**

**"Alex, what did you do? I know I told you to bring us a win, but you didn't have to knock Renee out, or lose control!"** Charice snapped.

**"Alex! What was that?"** Miku cried, hitting her still teammate.

_"Calm down, Miku. Still, Alex did go… a little crazy."_ Mitsuki soothed.

**"A LITTLE crazy? Mitsuki's gone crazy too!"** Miku started punching Mitsuki, who winced.

"Miku, calm down. Mitsuki's done nothing wrong." Charice said, gently pulling Miku away from Mitsuki. "What's more worrying is… why did Alex lose control like that? It's important that we find out before it gets worse. Someone could get killed!"

"_K-killed?"_ Mitsuki choked as a medical team made their way over to the two unmoving bladers.

"Yes, killed. This… could be more serious than we thought." Charice narrowed her eyes when half of the medical team lifted up Alex onto a stretcher and hurried him out of the stadium. Renee's stretcher quickly followed.

Team Web-Spinners trailed after Renee, leaving without a second glance.

"We should go to the hospital. Maybe they'll be able to figure out what it was."

-XD-

"_**What do you mean?**_ You _**have**_to know!" Miku screeched, lunging forward at the doctor.

"Miku, calm down!" Charice growled, pulling Miku back by her arms. "If the doctor doesn't know, he doesn't know. Sorry about that; she's a little stressed." She added to the doctor, who nodded gingerly in response and left rather swiftly. Charice let go of Miku.

"So it's _you_." The trio turned to see Aaden glaring at them.

"What about us?"

"You killed Renee!"

"… We didn't _kill _her. Plus, it was _Alex,_ not us. And Alex went crazy. Insane. Wild." Charice corrected.

"So? You knew he was going to do that, therefore, you sent him in deliberately!" Aaden reproached the team.

"Er… nooo." Charice said, drawing out the vowel. "That was as much as a surprise to us as it was to you."

"Yeah right. I'm gonna avenge Renee, just you wait!" Aaden swore, before running off.

"Aiyah, seems like _someone's_ in trouble."

**A/N: And… insert…**

The trio spun around to see… the same boy that Charice had a staring contest with in her trials.

"What's your problem? Are you stalking me or something?" Charice asked, her voice becoming dangerously quiet. And when her voice went quiet, you'd better watch out. "First, one of our team members goes insane, then we're accused of sending him in on purpose, and now I discover that I'm being stalked! This is the _**best**_day of my life."

"I'm not stalking you. You've only seen me twice. I'm a spectator. Nothing more." The boy smirked.

"… What are you doing here, then?" Charice questioned, causing the boy's smirk to vanish.

"I hate perceptive people like you."

"So you _**are **_a stalker!"

"Am not! Aiyah, stop accusing me of being a stalker! I'm not!"

"Who are you then?"

"I'm confused, are you?" Miku asked Mitsuki, who dipped her head in reply.

"_How do they know each other?"_

"… Fine. I'm a blader. Name's Da Xiang." Da Xiang held out his hand.

"A blader? … You're not a stalker then?"

"**NO!"**

"'Kay. Just making sure. Still, why are you here?"

"I think I might know what's wrong with Alex."

"You do?" The team said hopefully.

-XD-

"Here it is. The Shadow Pearl." Da Xiang showed the threesome a relic, dusty book.

"The Shadow Pearl?" The gang echoed.

"It's a dark purple pearl that was cursed so that it influenced anyone who stayed too close to it for too long. It would drive them to insanity, usually having random outbursts at any time." Da Xiang explained.

"But… that was the first time it happened… and it was right in the middle of a bey battle. Surely that's not random?" Charice pointed out.

"I've told you what _I_ think. It's up to you to decide whether you believe it or not." Da Xiang started to leave.

"Where is this pearl found?" Charice asked quickly.

"The Old Ruins."

-XD-

"And why do we have to go with you on this potentially dangerous trip?" Kyoya groaned.

"Are you saying you're scared, Kyoya?" Charice taunted, grinning maliciously.

"No! I'm just asking why…"

"Kyoya's scared of a pearl, Kyoya's scared of a pearl, Kyoya's scared of a pe-"

"Oh shut up! I'll go then!" Kyoya snarled.

"Thought you'd say yes. Nile?"

"…" Nile was silent.

"_Earth to Nile! _Are you coming to the ruins?"

"Hmm? Yeah…" Nile said, half-awake.

"Good! Off we go on a potentially dangerous trip with some stranger where we could possibly lose our minds!" Charice chirped happily.

"_**WHAT?" **_Nile yelled, jerking out of his 'zone-out' moment. "I'm not doing that!"

"You said yes: you're coming even if I have to drag you!" Charice sang joyfully.

"… WHY IS SHE IN SUCH A GOOD MOOD?"

* * *

**... ISHT DA XIANG! YAY! ME HAS AN IMPORTANT NOTICE!**

**IMPORTANT: Fan-fiction is still deleting stories than contain yaoi, yuri, lemons, violence, stories based on songs, and others… so… nearly every story on the site. Most everyone knows of the petition going around. If you haven't signed it, the link is on DarkHeartInTheSky's profile. But there is more we can do.**

**A Black-out Day is being organised. On June 23****rd**** (that is, according to GTM timing, so that we know we're doing it together), do NOT go onto fan-fiction if you want to keep most of these stories. Don't read, don't review, don't message your friends, don't update. If enough people participate, then the site will notice, and will realize we take our stories seriously.**

**Please spread the word any way you can, in any fandom! The motto of fanfiction is "Unleash Your Imagination." How can we if we're being given a LONG list of what we cannot write?**

**June 23rd. Remember it. Please. EVEN THOUGH IT IS TOMMOROW!**

**Important notice over.**

**QUESTIONS:**

**ICHI! WHO HERE LOVES DA XIANG? I KNOW I DO!**

**NI! Will they survive… THE OLD RUINS? *CREEPY CREEPER VOICE***

**RANDOM QUESTION! You like pandas, yes? **_Say yes!_

**SAN! WOULD **_**YOU **_**SURVIVE… THE OLD RUINS? *CREEPY CREEPER VOICE***

**SI! DA XIANG IS AWESOME, YES? **_SAY YES!_

**Nicely shaded review box down there, yes? I bet you want to admire it and click on it! 23rd of June! Remember if you still want those stories!**


	11. The Tribe of Striking Lightning

**HEY GUYS! MISS ME? *crickets chirp* *sad face* AWW…**

**I FEEL SO EVIL! INSERT EPICALLY FAILED BATTLE SCENE!**

**THANK YOU TO: azure blue espeon, memoranda, ANimEisAweSOmE4400, Darker Dusk, Bes9200 (whose name I have now discovered is ****not ****Bess, SORRY!)and The-Gray-Ninja! YOU GUYS CAN GET… I didn't put a plushie, did I? OOPS! SORRY GUYS! But it's nice to know that you don't review for the plushies; you review because you like the story, am I right? DANKE~!**

**I HAVE ****NO ****IDEA HOW THE TOSL (TRIBE OF STRIKING LIGHTNING) CAME TO BE, BUT IT JUST HAPPENED! I'M RANDOM LIKE THAT! :D**

**DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN BEYBLADE, ONLY MAH OCs AND THE TRIBE OF STRIKING LIGHTNING!**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 11: The Tribe of Striking Lightning

"Da Xiang, are you sure we're going the right way? I mean, this forest is… er… pretty much the same everywhere." Charice glanced around at the dark, homogeneous woodland.

Before they had entered the forest, they had been standing on a hill overlooking it, and it had seemed like it had stretched on for miles and miles, finally ending at a small grey building which must have been the ruins.

"Of course I'm sure!" Da Xiang replied rather too quickly.

"You don't know, do you?" Nile sweatdropped. Da Xiang didn't answer, ignoring Nile's question as he continued to hike through the forest.

"We must have been here for like _**hours!**_" Miku grumbled, dragging her feet across the muddy ground.

"_I agree. And night will be falling soon." _Mitsuki said, mysteriously appearing out of nowhere (and causing Nile and Kyoya to jump).

"Whoa! Where did she come from?" Nile yelled, shocked.

"And there I was thinking that we'd lost her." Kyoya murmured.

Completely used to her appearances, Charice and Miku resumed their trek, following Da Xiang.

"Still, Mitsuki's right. Night _is _falling, so we should either try and find out how far the ruins are and where we are, or make camp here." Charice said, stopping and crossing her arms.

"I'M **NOT** CAMPING OUT HERE!" Miku shouted, causing a few lone birds to flutter out of the trees.

"_We might not have a choice." _Mitsuki whispered.

"I'll climb that tree and find out where we are, 'kay?" Charice pointed to the nearest tree (which was, thankfully, very tall) and without waiting for an answer, started leaping from branch to branch.

"Show-off." Miku muttered. "First she jumps out of a 12 storey high building, and now she climbs up to the top of a tree by jumping. Without injuring herself either time. You'd think she does it for a living."

After a few minutes, Charice reached the top, looking around.

Directly in front of her, the forest extended for what must have been miles. To her left, the way they had come, she could see the hill they had paused on alienated by the great stretch of forest. Behind her… another few miles of trees. But to her right stood the ruins… yet once again, it would take at least half a day to get there.

Charice sighed and watched the orange sun slowly decline, the pink sky darkening into a deep blue, the sun disappearing into the earth.

Gradually, the full moon began its ascent up into the sky to take the place of the sun. Charice sat, feeling at peace.

"Come on, Charice." Charice started, snapping her head around.

Perching on one of the branches, Nile was gazing at Charice… _No, the moon, _Charice told herself. Why would Nile want to gaze at her? It had to be the moon. Or the stars. _Could be gazing at the stars._

"We'd better get down. After all, the others are waiting to know whether we should continue." Nile said gently. Charice nodded, before leaping down to the ground, landing lightly on her feet.

"Show-off." Miku called. "And now she jumps down from a 100 foot tree. Without injuring herself."

"Oh come on, you're just jealous." Charice sniggered, seeing Nile tentatively put his foot down on another branch.

"So? Should we continue or…?" Da Xiang asked.

"No. We should make camp. It'd take at least half a day to get to the ruins." Charice answered.

"Okay, it's decided then: we're staying for the night." Da Xiang concluded, despite Miku's loud protests. "Charice, Nile and Kyoya, you start making hammocks or shelters… or anything which we could possibly sleep in slash on. Mitsuki and Miku you find some sticks and two flints. I'll go hunting." He assigned the jobs, before vanishing into the bushes.

"Good thing we're in a clearing; it'll give us plenty of space. I bet the authoress did that on purpose. You did, didn't you?" Charice said, breaking the fourth wall.

"You broke the fourth wall!" A random person who looked rather like the authoress exclaimed, then teleported back to her laptop.

"… Well _**that **_was random. Come on, Mitsuki, wherever you are, let's go get the firewood." Miku told her once-again-invisible teammate, and led her back the way they had come.

"I think we should make two shelters; one for us and one for you boys. So… let's get some branches and lots of big leaves!" Charice suggested. Nile nodded, while Kyoya merely shrugged.

"Fine." Kyoya got out his bey, aimed at a nearby branch and launched it.

"What are yo-?" Charice's cry was cut off by the branch crashing to the floor. A single bird had flapped wildly off of the branch just as it started to fall.

"Done."

"**OI! I was trying to catch that!" **Da Xiang came hurtling out of the undergrowth, scowling.

"Oops, sorry." Kyoya held up his hands in mock surrender, not actually sounding at all sorry.

"You should be." Da Xiang glowered at Kyoya, trudging back into the shrubberies.

"… It's a good idea though… Rock Wyvern! Let's do it!" Charice pulled out Wyvern and attempted to do the same as Kyoya… but… Wyvern just rebounded, landing on the ground with a small **THUD **in front of her.

"Huh? Why didn't it work?"

"It takes great strength to be able to do that. You can even fell trees when you have that power." Kyoya gave a small smile.

"How…?"

"Kyoya trained… a lot. It took him a while, but he eventually managed to get that strength. It takes practice, but it also takes willpower. And patience." Nile explained. "Keep trying."

"Ok… Wyvern!" She picked up Wyvern and launched it again at the tree branch.

While she practised, Nile and Kyoya continued collecting more branches, before beginning to construct the shape of a shelter.

Eventually, they managed to finish (leaves and all) one shelter big enough for all of them. It only took them… an hour or so.

"Sorry, Charice, we can only make one. It's big enough for all of us, though." Nile called over to Charice, who was just about to launch Wyvern again. All around her, there lay at least 20 tree branches. There was even a whole tree there. "… Wow."

"You did that in an hour?" Kyoya asked, his surprise evident.

"Yeah, why?"

"It took Kyoya… what? A couple of day-" Nile was interrupted by Kyoya.

"Hours, only a few hours. Shut up, Nile." Kyoya added to the Egyptian, who was going to say otherwise.

"Charming. Hey… what's taking the others so long?" Nile suddenly enquired, glancing around the clearing. "Surely it doesn't take an hour to collect some firewood?"

"**GUYS! YOU GUYS, GET YOUR BUTTS OVER THERE! IT'S DA XIANG! HE'S UNCONCIOUS! HE'S BEEN ATTACKED! BY ALIENS!" **Miku yelled, running over and breaking the previously quiet glade.

**A/N – Now, who said that?**

"Da Xiang?" The threesome (now accompanied by Miku and Mitsuki) rushed over to where Miku had seen Da Xiang.

Sure enough, he was unconscious, with a strange little arrow stuck in his arm.

"It looks like a sleeping dart- " Charice observed, but was cut off by Nile.

"**Charice! LOOK OUT!" **Charice saw the same sort of dart speeding towards her, then she saw Nile jumping in front of her and crumpling to the floor, unconscious, as the dart hit him.

"… Idiot." Charice mumbled.

"**WE'RE UNDER ATTACK! BY ALIENS!"**

**A/N – No prizes for guessing who said that -_-'**

Miku started running around in circles like a headless chicken. Then she was hit by a dart and fell to the floor.

Meanwhile, Mitsuki turned invisible in an attempt to protect herself, although she was struck by another flying dart soon after.

Kyoya's eyes darted around, trying to spot the attackers, but was attacked from behind.

Charice was now _extremely_ frightened, what with fighting an unseen enemy alone. She backed against a tree, wondering what to do, when there was a sharp blow to her head, making her collapse, out cold like the rest of her teammates.

-XD-

_W-what happened? Where am I? All I remember was being attacked… _Charice's eyes shot open. She wasn't prepared for the sudden change in light. _It must be morning already._ She thought, trying to bring her hands up to rub her eyes… before she realized that they were tied to a large tree trunk. She pulled at the ropes, but they wouldn't loosen.

The side of her head throbbed, so Charice assumed that that was where she was punched.

Sighing, she sat back, noticing that Nile and Mitsuki were sitting next to her, the latter still knocked out.

"Where are we?" She whispered to Nile.

"I don't know. Kyoya and Da Xiang are still unconscious. I'm not sure about Miku and Mitsuki." He replied quietly.

"Mitsuki's unconscious and Miku must be, otherwise she'd be screaming her head of-"

"**LET US GO, ALIENS! YOU'RE COWARDS TO FIGHT FROM THE SHADOWS! COWARDS TO USE STUPID SLEEPING DARTS! COWARDS!" **_**Someone **_bellowed from somewhere behind Charice.

**A/N – Once again, no prizes ^-^;**

"… Miku's awake. And the others must be with _that _racket going on." Charice hissed, shaking her head.

"You're right: Kyoya's just woken up and is trying to get free, while Da Xiang's just sitting there silently."

Charice was about to extend on that, but she stopped abruptly when she saw some figures slinking out of the shadows.

The figures were clothed in what seemed to be like tribe clothing, with fancy headdresses and what.

"You shall now die." The one who was dressed the most elaborately (and carrying a spear, mind you… *shiver*) said, pointing his weapon at the group.

"Why? What have we done to you?" Charice cried.

"You plan on destroying our Tribe like many others have tried before." He stated simply. "You're from the military, no?"

"NO! We're not! We want to get to the Old Ruins!"

"The Old Ruins?" The Tribe Leader hesitated. "What business do you have there?"

"We think our friend may have been influenced by the Shadow Pearl!"

"… Do you swear to God with all your life that you are not from the military?"

"YES!" The gang chorused.

"Untie them." The leader ordered. A few of the Tribe members made their way over to the trunk, and began to cut through the ropes restraining them. Charice let out a sigh of relief when her wrists were released, rubbing her hands to get the feeling back into them. "I am sorry for attacking you. It is just that the military has been trying to get us out of the forest so that they can remove the forest."

"It's ok. I just have one question: who are you?" Charice questioned.

"We are the Tribe of Striking Lightning."

* * *

**DUN-DUN-DUN! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN?**

**This was supposed to be about the Old Ruins, but er… yeah. It kinda just happened.**

**ARGH! I had **_**terrible **_**writer's block on this! This is actually one of the longest chapters… when I finally got into it (the battle scene), I just couldn't stop!**

**PREPARE FOR OCs galore next chapter!**

**QUESTIONS:**

**UN! WHO WAS SCREAMING ABOUT ALIENS? (STILL NO PRIZES! :D)**

**DEUX! WILL THE TRIBE HELP THEM?**

**RQ! ****DO**** YOU LIKE THIS STORY? PLEASE ANSWER TRUTHFULLY! :3**

**TROIS! WILL THEY FIND THE SHADOW PEARL? *DUN DUN DUN!***

**QUATRE! WHAT LANGUAGE ARE THE QUESTION NUMBERS? (I know, completely irrelevant)**

**I'M SO HAPPY! I'VE FIGURED OUT A WAY TO NOT NEED TO USE YAOI LATER! HAHAHA! I AM AWESOME!**

**I CANNOT BE BOTHERED TO TURN OFF CAPS LOCK. AND I HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG THIS STORY WILL BE.**

**REVIEW PLEASE, 'CAUSE THAT REVIEW BOX LOOKS LIKE IT COULD BE HIDING A POKEMON! A POKEMON CALLED… PALKIA (IN PLUSHIE FORM)!**


	12. More About the Tribe

**Once again, **_**TERRIBLE **_**writer's block. Aiyah, aru. -_- SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG! DX WE'VE BEEN **_**REALLY **_**BUSY IN SCHOOL! I swear, they work us too hard.**

**AS SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, CHARACTER A IN THE SUMMARY HAS CHANGED TO NILE. I WONDER WHY?**

**DANKE TO ALL THOSE WHO REVIEWED! YOU GOT A LEGENDARY POKEMON **plushie…

**DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING BUT THE TRIBE AND TEAM RLS. YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW.**

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 12: More about the Tribe

"The Tribe of Striking Lightning?" The group echoed.

"Yes."

**A/N – ARRRGH! DIE WRITER'S BLOCK! DX It took me… three days just to get past here. Yep. But thanks to Bes9200's method to get rid of writer's block, I'M WRITING AGAIN! HAHAHA!**

"Whoa. This place is epic. IT HAS A TRIBE IN IT! YAY!" Miku yelled happily (causing the group to sweatdrop), then running off into one of the many huts which Charice hadn't noticed before. Probably because she was too busy trying not to die. A couple of seconds later, there were some screams, and some Tribe members dashed out of the hut, Miku chasing after them. "I ONLY WANT TO MAKE FRIENDS!"

"Haha… she's always like that," Charice laughed awkwardly, noticing the leader of the Tribe had a confused expression on his face. "Well, anyway… we haven't introduced ourselves. I'm Charice, this is Nile, Kyoya, Da Xiang, Mitsuki, and the one racing around like a madman is Miku." She pointed at each in turn.

"I am Kato, the leader of the Tribe. Once again, I am sorry for attempting to kill you," He looked at Charice's (very sore) wrists, "You should get your wrists healed up. Tazmin!" He shouted, and a few moments later, a young girl loped out of the biggest hut (**HOW** COULD CHARICE HAVE MISSED THAT?). She had dark brown hair which had two long braids from the front (extensions) ending in grey-ish feathers, dark brown eyes, and wore a t-shirt with a Siberian Tiger on it, denim jeans and a simple green zip-up jumper **(A/N - WHAT DO YOU CALL THEM?)**. She was looking _extremely _out of place in the Tribe; the only clues that she was part of it were the extensions.

"Yeah, Kato – I mean, yes, my Leader slash Lord thingy, all high and mighty, what can I do for you?" Tazmin grinned, making Kato scowl.

"Speak properly, Tazmin, we have guests." Kato snapped, glaring at the said girl. "Tazmin wasn't born into the Tribe. We found her unconscious in the forest, so we took her in and raised her. It turned out that she's good with herbs."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Guests? Oh, hi there. I'm Tazmin. Healer of this Tribe, if that's what you want to call me. As Kato said, I'm good with herbs, so if you need any healing or stuff, I'm your girl, da?" She… spoke with a Russian accent… "Anyway, what are you doing here? We don't get visitors often."

"Hi. I can't be bothered to introduce ourselves again, so I'll just say that **MY WRISTS AND HEAD HURT LIKE MAD**!" Charice said, holding up her very much red wrists.

"Really? I'm not surprised. The rest of you have wrists like that?" The group examined their wrists and decided that they needed healing too. "C'mon then, into my hut. The herbs are in there."

Tazmin led them to a little shack near the edge of the clearing.

"It's not much, but it suffices. In." Tazmin ushered them inside. Immediately, a sharp, pungent smell filled the air. "Hmm… poppy seeds, poppy seeds… ah, here they are!" Tazmin rummaged around in a small box until she found what she was looking for. "Eat up. One or two each, and you'll feel better in no time."

Charice bit into the seeds. A tangy sort of taste filled her mouth. She didn't really like it.

But after a minute or two, the pain in her wrists began to ebb away, and her head stopped throbbing.

"Poppy seeds; they're awesome. Give 'em a few minutes and they'll make the pain fade away. They're really good for when warriors come back after chasing away a lion or what."

"I can tell! By the way, what time is it?" Charice asked, suddenly remembering something _very _important: _**THE SECOND BATTLE OF THE BEYBLADE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS!**_

"The time? From the height of the sun," Tazmin peered out of the hut, "It's about 6 in the morning."

"_6?_ **GOD, WE HAVE GOT TO GET TO THE RUINS, AND FAST!**" Charice started panicking.

"_And… why is that?"_

"**Because, Mitsuki, IT'S OUR BEYBLADE TOURNAMENT AT TWO, AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW LONG WE'LL BE IN THE RUINS!"**

"_Oh. Let's go! Quick!" _Mitsuki ushered the gang outside, before running back in to thank Tazmin. _"Thanks for the herbs!" _And she ran out, Miku randomly screaming her head off.

"Wait! You don't know the way to the ruins!" Tazmin called after them, sticking her head out of her hut.

Charice skidded to a halt.

"The girl's got a point."

"Da (yes in Russian). I always have a point. OI! WAPPA! MOHEGAN! AHTNA! GET YOUR BUTTS OVER HERE!" Tazmin hollered at three men who were just walking past.

"Yes, Tazmin?" The tallest queried.

"I want you three to get your weapons and help these guys get to the Old Ruins. And make it fast: they don't have much time.** HURRY! CHOP CHOP!**"

The three raised their eyebrows at the small Russian girl, although they didn't complain and went to another hut. They came out a few seconds later, each carrying a spear.

"**PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I HAVE RELATIVES IN YOUR COUNTRY!" ** Miku screamed, throwing her hands up in surrender.

"Haha… as I have explained to Kato, she's always like that. So… anyway, let's go!" Charice said, and before long, the group were speeding to the Old Ruins.

**SUPER short chapter today, but heck.**

**No questions because I can't think of any XP**

**Pretty nice review box, eh? You get a Tazmin doll if you review.**


	13. The Old Ruins

**I AM ALIVE! I'LL UPDATE TO PROVE THAT I AM ACTUALLY ALIVE! Or am I just a ghost? o3o**

**Nyah, of course I'm a living breathing human! XD Or else I wouldn't be awesome like the people who've reviewed! And all those awesome people get a Tazmin plushie! *hands them out***

**SO READ! XD**

**Oh ja, and I'm now gonna refer to Da Xiang as Dashan. Or Dashan Wang if he's introducing himself.**

**NOW YOU READ.**

**DISCLAIMER – I ONLY OWN MY OCs AND THE PLOT OF THIS STORY!**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 13: The Old Ruins

Sprinting through the forest, the gang plus the three guards (who were lagging behind, due to their heavy build and such) quickly drew near to their destination: the Old Ruins.

Charice was leading, since the guards had said that they needed to keep going forwards before they reached it, closely followed by Miku and Dashan, who were being tailed by Nile, Kyoya and Mitsuki, and the guards at the back.

They ran and ran and ran for what seemed like an eternity, until they **(finally)** arrived at the Old Ruins **(well done).**

"**Not you again!"** Charice glared at her old enemy: The person-who-says-annoying-things-in-brackets.

"**(Oh yes. It's me.)" **The person-who-says-annoying-things-in-brackets snickered, then turned and disappeared.

"… What on earth was that?" Dashan questioned.

"Don't worry. Anyway, we're here, so let's go!" Charice chirped happily, before beginning to skip into the ruins.

"_Wait!"_

"Huh? What is it, Mitsuki?"

"_Remember what Dashan said? If we stay near the Shadow Pearl for too long, we'll end up becoming insane!"_

"Oh yeah…"

"So maybe it's best if we _don't _rush into there like we've already lost our minds." Nile sniggered.

"**I HAVE ****NOT**** LOST MY MIND!" **Charice yelled, chasing Nile around with her fist held up high above her head.

"Ah… when are they going to realise that they're so hopelessly in love?" Miku sighed.

"**I AM ****NOT**** IN LOVE WITH HIM!"**

"... CHARICE! You're strangling her!"

"**I KNOW!"**

**-XD-**

After they had (eventually) calmed Charice down, they headed into the ruins, eyes darting around, searching for any sign of the Shadow Pearl. They left the guards outside because they were big wimps).

"This place is creepy… I'm kinda hoping that we don't find the pearl…" Charice shuddered.

"Why, are you scared of a pearl?" Kyoya teased, remembering when Charice was teasing him about that.

"N-no! O-of course I'm not scared of a pearl that could potentially make us lose our minds! W-why would I be scared?" Charice replied rather too quickly.

"Charice is scared of a pearl~! Charice is scared of a pearl~! Charice is scared of a-!" Kyoya chanted, Nile joining in for fun.

"Oh shut up!" Miku said, punching Kyoya lightly.

"_Guys… I'm feeling a sort of tingling sensation… I think we're drawing close to the pearl…" _Mitsuki shivered, pulling her sleeves down.

"Mitsuki's right… I'm feeling it too!" Charice exclaimed.

"Me too." Dashan said.

"I don't know… I'm not feeling anything." Miku shrugged.

"_Probably because you already are insane.__"_Kyoya muttered under his breath.

"Oi!"

"Guys! I've just realised that there are drawings etched onto the walls! Look!" Nile suddenly pointed out.

"Oh yeah!" Charice examined one. It seemed to be… a deformed human without a head. "These are messed up!"

"They all seem to be depicting some sort of scene… maybe linked with the Shadow Pearl?" Dashan suggested.

"Maybe." They continued walking in silence, the tingling getting stronger and stronger, and before long, it was almost like pins and needles.

"_Ow ow ow! This pain is becoming unbearable!" _Mitsuki began shaking.

"Really? You're feeling pain? My arms are going numb." Miku rubbed her arms, probably trying to get some feeling into them. "How about you guys?"

"I feel pain! YOUCH!" Charice replied, jumping as a twinge of pain shot through her body.

"Me-" Nile shuddered. "Too…" He whimpered.

"Wimp." Kyoya murmured.

"I think my arms are going numb." Dashan said.

"So… I guess we're split into two different groups! Miku, Kyoya and Dashan's arms are freezing, while us other three are stuck with pain!" Charice chirped happily.

"And you're pointing that out because…?"

"I felt like it!"

"OMG! GUYS, LIKE TOTALLY LOOK OVER THERE!" Miku abruptly yelled.

"What is it?"

"THERE'S A PLINTH OVER THERE! And it has some sort of… sphere on top of it."

"That could be the-" Charice trembled with more pain, "Shadow Pearl!"

Quickly, the group ran over to the plinth. Atop it sat a pitch-black orb, and had what looked like dark clouds swirling inside it.

"… Is anyone losing their minds yet?"

"_Nope. I'm not."_

Charice examined the Shadow Pearl. It seemed like it was in perfectly good condition… _**except**_for a chip in its side!

"Check this out! There's a chip there! Hey… do you think that _someone _cut a chunk off of the pearl and slipped it in Alex's suitcase or pocket or something?"

"Even a tiny fragment of the pearl would be enough to send someone insane, eventually." Dashan said.

"But what if that fragment _wasn't _given to Alex? What if it was something other than the pearl?" Nile questioned.

"But what if it _was _given to Alex? Nile, this is the only lead we have. Dashan, can you destroy the shard without having to find it?" Charice retorted.

"I think… if we destroy the pearl itself, any other fragments elsewhere would be destroyed too." Dashan answered.

"_And… how do we destroy it?"_

"With our beys, of course."

**-XD-**

"**COME ON! HURRY UP! THE STUPID PLACE IS COLLAPSING!" **Miku screamed, dashing through the ruins.

"**WE'RE RUNNING AS FAST AS WE CAN, MIKU!" **Charice screamed back, flinching slightly when a chunk of the ceiling crashed down in front of her.

"**THERE'S THE EXIT! LET'S GO!"**

They managed to give themselves an extra burst of speed, and they raced out of the exit just as the place fell in on itself.

"Ok…" Nile panted. "So the Shadow Pearl… was keeping… the Old Ruins… in place."

"Let's… just get back… to the Tribe… okay?" Charice said, and so the gang headed back (as quickly as they could in their tired states) to the Tribe's camp.

**WHEE! I'M DONE! … You happy now? :P Anyway, the battle between Charice and Aaden will be in the next chapter… or will it? WILL THEY MAKE IT BACK IN TIME? No, no they won't. :P**

**So ja. Review and all that. After you've done the QUESTIONS! XD**

**ONE! Who wouldl win? Would Charice or would Aaden? That is, if they were to battle again.**

**TWO! WILL THEY EVEN MAKE IT BACK?**

**RANDOM QUESTION! Which football team do you support?**

**THREE! Will Tazmin appear again?**

**FOUR! Why is Miku obsessed with aliens?**

**NOW YOU REVIEW!**

**Oh ja, and anonymous reviews ARE enabled, so if there are any people without an account reading this, YOU CAN REVIEW! XD **

**YOU GET A VIRTUAL CHOCOLATE CAKE IF YOU REVIEW! XD**


	14. Charice vs Aaden

**And finally, the long awaited chapter! Charice vs. Aaden! But who will win? *Le gasp* Aaden will, right? I mean, he's totally awesome, and has a lot of fangirls (including me!)! But still, Charice is awesomeness. ;D**

**Charice: Yep!**

**Aaden: Nope.**

**Charice: *death-glare***

**So anyway, all you AWESOME people who reviewed can get a… I didn't do one, did I? Oh well. YOU CAN GET A FREE VIRTUAL CAKE OF ANY FLAVOUR! WHEE! MAGICAL! XD**

**Miku: I WANT ONE! D:**

**Me: You didn't review, SO NO. **_Plus, you're not awesome._** -3-**

**Miku: Hey! DX**

**On with ze chappie!**

**Disclaimer – ****I do NOT own Beyblade, only my OCs!**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 14: Charice vs. Aaden!

"We're back!" Charice shouted, as they ran into the Tribe's camp.

"Oh good! Did you find what you were looking for?" Tazmin came out of her tent, carrying a large pack.

"Yes, and what on earth is that for?" Charice asked, pointing at the pack.

"Hmm? This? Isn't it obvious?"

"Um… _**noooo**_."

"I'm coming with you!" Tazmin chirped.

"_**NOOOOO!" **_Miku screamed dramatically. "Just kidding, _**just kidding**_!" She added, noticing Tazmin glaring at her.

"_But… why?"_

"It's so_** boring**_ here! Nothing ever happens, and I want to go and have fun! I want to go on an adventure!"

"…Ok then. But still, shouldn't you tell Kato?" Charice agreed.

"I've already told him. He says it's fine."

"…Really?"

"Yep! …Why? Don't you believe me?" Tazmin pouted, her brown eyes filling with tears.

"Talk about weird." Kyoya scoffed.

"Hey!" And with that, Kyoya received a death-glare from Tazmin.

"Yeah! Terrifying… not!" Kyoya smirked, pretending to die.

"Guys? Can we just, I don't know… _leave?_ Don't you have a tournament to get to?" Dashan said, bringing everyone back to reality.

"A tournament…?" Tazmin had a blank look on her face.

"Oh yeah! Tazmin doesn't know about Beyblade! We'll explain on the way." Charice exclaimed.

"**Hurry up then! We'll be LATE if we don't leave like, NOW!" **Miku roared, running out of the camp.

"**THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, KATO!" **Charice shouted, and she swore she heard an 'It's ok, take care of Tazmin and visit sometime!' or something like that, before the group dashed out of the camp.

**/=+=/ - NEW BREAK ICON! YAY! XD**

"C'mon guys! Hurry up! We're like, nearly there!" Miku encouraged, seeing everyone else (except for Dashan, Kyoya and Charice; so basically Nile, Mitsuki and Tazmin) panting.

"How… the hell… can you… run this far… without… even tiring? I mean… we've been running… for at least… an hour or… two!" Tazmin gasped between breaths. Dashan and Kyoya shrugged, while Charice merely chirruped: "It's something that awesome people have! Anyway, we _have _taken breaks!"

"Thanks… for nothing!" Nile growled (still breathless).

"You're welcome!"

They ran in silence for a few more minutes.

"_Oh look! There's the city!" _Mitsuki finally spoke up, motioning at the ever-growing skyscrapers and such.

"**YES!" **The group managed to put on a final burst of speed (somehow…), as they ran into the bustling Australian city.

"Right! Now we go to the hotel, drop Tazmin's stuff off, head to the arena, and have a dramatic entrance!" Charice chirped again.

"We'll be in the crowd, then. See you later!" And with that, Dashan, Nile and Kyoya left.

"Let's go!" Charice yelled, leading them to the hotel.

**/=+=/**

"Boys and girls, this is the moment you have been waiting for! The battle between Charice Lorrendos and our very own Aaden Taylor is about go underway!" The TV from an electronics shop blared with the voice of the Australian DJ, as Team RLS (minus Alex and plus Tazmin) sprinted past it. The arena was in sight… they just had to get there in time.

"**HURRY UP! GOD, WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!**" Miku bellowed, deafening a couple of people nearby.

"No, we're not! We've still got two minutes!"

"**BUT AT THE PACE YOU'RE RUNNING AT, WE'LL BE THERE IN AN HOUR!**"

"_Charice, why don't you go on ahead? After all, it is your battle. We'll be there to support you later, ok?_" Mitsuki suggested.

"Ok!" Charice sped off, kicking up a trail of dust as she became a speck in the distance.

"…How is it that she can run that fast?" Tazmin sweatdropped.

"_It must be 'something that awesome people have'." _

"**STOP SLACKING OFF! RUN FASTER! FASTER, FASTER, FASTER!**"

"**SIR, YES SIR!**"

**/=+=/**

Charice tore through the corridors inside the arena. As she passed a clock on the wall, she quickly checked the time: 2:59:32.

"**FLIP! I ONLY HAVE 28 SECONDS!**" Charice cried out, sprinting even faster.

Then, she saw a bright light…

**WHEE! TIME-SKIP! *ABOUT 3 MINUTES BEFORE THAT***

Aaden walked over to the bey stadium, watching the crowd go wild at his arrival. Of course, he would thrash that brat Charlie or whatever in a minute or two, since he had done that when she challenged him out on the streets. This was going to be a piece of cake.

"And here is Aaden Taylor, our very own Beyblade celebrity! But… where is Charice?"

Charice! _That _was her name! Oh well.

"Guess she ran away." Aaden smirked. "After all, I beat her so easily back then; she probably got too scared and didn't come."

"If she doesn't come, Team Web-Spinners will win the next point automatically."

They waited for a minute.

"Ok… Team Web-Spinners get the-" The Australian DJ started, but was cut off by a voice shouting loud enough for the whole stadium to turn and gawp at Team RLS's entrance.

"**HOLD IT!**" Someone ran through the shadows of the exit, straight towards the bey stadium.

Upon closer inspection, it was Charice! … Covered in a layer of dust.

"Couldn't you have made yourself a _little _more presentable?" Aaden frowned.

"Sorry, but being ambushed by a random Tribe, running for your life out of a collapsing ruin, and then sprinting another couple of miles isn't exactly going to make you very clean." Charice retorted, pulling out her bey launcher and attaching Wyvern to it.

"As long as we get to battle, I don't care if you nearly died." Aaden said, getting out Flame Arachnid.

"3! 2! 1!" The crowd chanted.

"Let it rip!" Charice and Aaden yelled, and the battle started.

"Wyvern! Show him how much stronger we've gotten!"

Wyvern raced to the centre of the stadium, spinning there.

"Aren't you going to attack?"

"Nope! I'll give you the first move!" Charice grinned evilly. Aaden narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was a trap. Even so, he decided to finish it quickly.

"Arachnid! Poison String Shot!" Aaden called. That move had taken Wyvern out in one hit last time, so what was the point in wasting Arachnid's energy? And since Charice was scared of the spider…

Once again, the large, black spider appeared, clicking its fangs menacingly.

But… instead of screaming, Charice kept her calm.

_Why isn't she screaming? _Aaden thought, frustrated.

The spider let loose a shot of sticky, white liquid from its mouth. It hit Wyvern full on.

_Yes! It hit! I've won, then!_

Charice smirked. Obviously, Aaden had fallen for her trap. Just because Wyvern couldn't _dodge_ the attack, it didn't mean that it couldn't _endure_ it.

"Wyvern! Flame Bringer!" Charice called her special move.

"**What?" **Aaden gaped at the sight: Wyvern was speeding towards his bey as if nothing had happened.

"Silly Aaden! Rock Wyvern is a Defence type, so it can effortlessly endure an attack. Last time, I hadn't unlocked Wyvern's defensive powers; therefore it couldn't even stand up to an attack like that. But now that I have… Let's just say that it's a _lot _stronger!" Charice explained happily, punching the air as the air around Wyvern caught fire, and the now-flaming bey shot towards Arachnid.

"Grr… I won't be beaten that easily! Arachnid, fight fire with fire! Flaming Inferno!"

The two beys crashed together, flames erupting around the stadium.

"Nah, that's enough fire now. Wyvern, Thunder Over-Slash!"

Wyvern retreated, before rushing back towards the spider, the purple wyvern materializing, claws bathed in bright blue electricity. It sank its claws into Arachnid, and threw it up, the spider screeching in pain.

Arachnid flew up into the air, then hurtling back towards the ground. It smashed into the stadium floor, causing a huge dust cloud to cover the arena.

* * *

**Und I'm stopping it there, because I'm so evil!**

**Question time~!**

**1! Are you happy that Tazmin's staying?**

**2! Is Arachnid actually defeated? Or has it merely been weakened?**

**RQ! DO YOU WATCH HETALIA? (IF YOU DO, THEN YOU ARE AWESOME! *high-five*)**

**3! Are Charice's special moves awesome or what?**

**4! Who will be the next opponent in the World Championships? And will it be Team RLS fighting them, or can Team WS make a comeback?**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!**

**I WILL BE ON HOLIDAY FOR 8 DAYS ON TUESDAY, SO DON'T EXPECT AN UPDATE FOR AT LEAST A WEEK AND A HALF! SORRY, BUT WE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE TO ITALY AND SPAIN (I WILL TRY TO FIND ITA-CHAN AND ANTONIO! XD), AND I AM **_**NOT **_**BRINGING MY COMPUTER. I APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVINIENCE CAUSED.**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER!**

**So anyway, if you review, you get an adorable panda plushie! X3 And remember; anonymous reviews **_**are **_**enabled~!**


	15. The End?

**I AM ALIVE! And extremely tanned from a nice holiday in the Mediterranean. And rushing to bring you this chapter before you all wander off to some lovely FanFiction-free place.**

**I SAW LOOKALIKES OF THE ITALY BROS, SPAIN AND… **France**… I screamed bloody murder when I saw the France one. But I will not tell you about how I begged for my life. I will get on with the story. After this. **

**Yesh, that's right. Web-Spinners have won.**

…

**You all died then, didn't you? XD Just kidding! I would never let RLS lose! **

…

**Or would I?**

**SUSPENSE! I AM AWESOME AT IT! :D**

…

**ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED GET…**

…

…

**NOTHING!**

…

…

**JUST KIDDING! You all get an adorable panda plushie! I could insert a really long and boring – I mean interesting - story about a panda, but I won't, because all this suspense is killing you and I'm a really nice authoress, aren't I? I mean, you just want to read this chapter. But I'm stopping you with this super long A/N. Go ahead and read the chapter after you're read this.**

**DISCLAIMER – Yes, you all saw that coming. I will not repeat it, because you all know the drill.**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 15: The End?

As the dust cleared, the whole crowd gasped. The Australian DJ gasped. Grant, Renee and Jennifer gasped. Miku and Mitsuki gasped (well, actually Miku took in a huge breath and suffocated herself). Aaden gasped. Charice gasped. The whole world gasped. Italy screamed "PAAAAAASTAAAAA!"

**A/N – Ok, I'm done with that. ^-^'**

…

…

…

There was a clear winner. And it was…

"I don't believe it! Arachnid has literally been _thrown _out of the bey stadium! Wyvern and Charice have won!" The Australian DJ fell out of his chair. No seriously, he did.

The crowd was silent. That was, except for Nile, Kyoya and Da Xiang, who were clapping politely and receiving several glares from the Australian crowd.

"Come on! **CLAP! CLAP, YOU STUPID, IDIOTIC-" **Miku began to scream at the baffled Australians, before Mitsuki slapped a hand over her mouth.

"_What she means is that it would be nice to clap." _Mitsuki smiled slightly, giving a look that clearly said 'Clap unless you want me to rip out your throat, which I can do, even if it looks like I can't.'

Scared, the audience started applauding. Aaden fell to his knees, cradling Arachnid in his hands.

"I… I lost… it's all my fault… **I'M NOT AWESOME ANYMORE!" **He shouted, punching the ground.

"Aaden…" Grant walked up to him, "It's not your fault. RLS is an extremely strong team, and we just weren't strong enough. But we'll get stronger, and then we'll challenge them again. We'll win! Aaden, you **are **awesome. Look; all your fans are cheering! They don't care if you've lost!" Aaden glanced at the crowd. Sure enough, they were all chanting his name.

"… Thank you." Aaden whispered, watching Charice join her teammates. "Thank you for showing me the light."

"Give it up for Team Web-Spinners! They've fought hard, but in the end, Team Rock Lightning Storm were the victors!" The Australian DJ yelled over Aaden's fangirls, who were screaming their heads off as Team WS left the stadium.

"Way to go, Charice!" Miku pulled Charice into a giant bear hug, Mitsuki sweatdropping.

"Can't… breathe…" Charice gasped for breath.

"Oops! Sorry!" Miku let go, Charice taking in huge gulps of air which she had taken for granted until a few seconds ago.

"_Well done, Charice!" _Mitsuki smiled, happiness even showing in her quiet voice.

"Thanks guys. C'mon, let's go." Charice gazed up around the arena. Everyone was clapping, although Nile, Kyoya, Dashan and Tazmin were clapping the hardest. She skipped after her teammates, obviously proud of herself.

**/=+=/**

"**What?! What do you mean 'he's gone'?!" **Charice and Mitsuki gawked at the receptionist at the hospital, while Miku stormed around the room.

"Well… when Dr Nero went in to check on him, Alex was gone. Disappeared. Nero says the window was open, though." The receptionist replied, looking slightly scared of the murderous look on Miku's face.

"**That's **_**it**_**! I decree that we **_**are **_**being slowly picked off by aliens!" **Miku concluded, collapsing on to a random sofa that happened to be there.

"_Um… I don't think that-" _Mitsuki started, but was cut off by Miku.

"To defeat them, we'll need bazookas, lasers, a giant jar and a jam sandwich. Charice, you get the weapons, I'll get the jar, and you get the jam sandwich, Mitsuki!"

"… I have two things to say to that. One: we are _**not **_being kidnapped by aliens. And two: ... why the hell would you need a jam sandwich, even if we were being kidnapped by aliens? What, do aliens suddenly love jam sandwiches?" Charice actually facepalmed at the stupidity of her friend.

"And I have two things to say to _that. _One: we _**are **_being kidnapped by aliens, and two; I need a jam sandwich because I'm **STARVING!**" Miku retorted.

"_Guys? Can we just focus? Alex has disappeared without trace, and we're standing here, bickering like little kids about aliens. Focus!"_

"You're right… I'm sorry. We shouldn't have been acting so immaturely." Miku apologized, looking extremely guilty.

"What are you doing?! Being mature is _my _job! I'm supposed to apologize like that, not you! What makes you think that-" Charice immediately started ranting, but was cut off by Mitsuki clearing her throat, "You're right… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started ranting like that. I should be more mature."

And the bewildered receptionist sat, gawping at the trio and their strange ways.

**/=+=/**

"Alright! What they do in detective movies is investigate the scene of the crime first! So… let's go up to Alex's hospital room!" Miku commanded. She had pulled out a Sherlock costume and a Watson costume, given the Watson one to Mitsuki, and pulled on the Sherlock one.

Although Charice was slightly hurt at not being chosen to wear one, her disappointment vanished quickly enough when she realised that the two in costumes were being sniggered at by the other hospital patients.

"Ok then! The scene of the crime… is here!" Miku threw the door open, causing it to bang against the wall and rebound back into her face.

"_Are you ok?" _Mitsuki asked.

"Yes, Watson, of course I am!" Miku replied with blood splattered all around her nose. Charice sweatdropped.

"You know, this isn't actually a crime scene-"

"Shut up, peasant!" Miku ordered, obviously enjoying every moment of this. "Now, let's see… Aha! What is this?"

"… That's a glass of water, Miku." Charice deadpanned.

"That's what you think! It could be a shrinking potion! My conclusion is that Alex spotted this delectable-looking liquid, thought it was water, like you did, drank it and shrunk! Everyone check the floors! He's probably hiding around here somewhere!" Miku tugged a magnifying glass out of nowhere, dropped onto all fours and crawled around, hunting for the non-existent tiny Alex.

"… That would mean that it'd be one of the staff's fault."

"Good observation, peasant! I suspect the culprit was Dr Nero!"

"_What makes you think that?"_

"It's elementary, Watson." Miku smirked.

"… Yeah, she's just saying Nero because he's the only member of staff she knows."

"Shut up, peasant!"

Suddenly, Charice's phone began to ring. Charice took it out of her pocket and answered it.

"Hello? Charice Lorrendos speaking." She said.

"Um… hello there. I'm Hikaru, and I'm from the WBBA, the company in charge of the Beyblade World Championships."

"Hi Hikaru! How can I help?" Charice asked.

"I've just had a call from the Himalayan team, Team Spiritual Magic. They claim to have a member of your team in Himalaya. They say they have him with them at their training dojo." Hikaru explained.

"Alex?"

"A boy with blond hair, green eyes, wearing a dark green jacket and jeans."

"That's Alex! Guys, we've found him!" Charice added to the confused Miku and Mitsuki – I mean, Sherlock and Watson.

"And what's also good is that your next opponents in the World Championships will be Spiritual Magic, so you can head on over there, get Alex, and then stay in Himalaya until your battle! Helpful, right?"

"Yes, very! Thanks a bunch, Hikaru!" Charice grinned, jumping up and down like a child.

"You're welcome. Bye!" Hikaru hung up.

"It's Alex! He's in the Himalayas! And I know who our next opponents are!" Charice said happily.

"Who?" Miku and Mitsuki – I mean, Sherlock and Watson – questioned enthusiastically.

"The Himalayan team!"

"No way!" Miku – I mean Sherlock - cried. "What a coincidence! But… what is Alex doing in the Himalayas?"

"I have no idea. But let's get back to the hotel, meet up with the other four, and head home to Asia!"

**/=+=/**

**TIME WARP! WHEEE! *about 10 minutes before***

Sighing, a girl with thigh-length black hair (which had purple streaks near the bottom) tied up in ponytail, wearing a thin white, blue, and pink jacket over a blue t-shirt, white fuzzy earmuffs, blue leggings, and black high heeled boots covered by furry white boot covers (Hey, it got cold in the Himalayas!) wandered down the Tibetan streets.

Her name was Raven, Raven-Pandora-Iris Azure, to be exact. But everyone called her Raven. Probably because Raven-Pandora-Iris is a mouthful. We'll get on with the story now.

Now, Raven was part of the Himalayan Beyblade World Championships team: Team Spiritual Magic. In fact, you could say that she was the leader of Spiritual Magic. Yet hardly anyone knew much about her, because she hadn't battled in the match against the Korean team. Actually, she hadn't even shown up! Raven had only battled in the trials for the team, had won all of her matches, and was the first person to be selected for the team. All people knew about her was that she was a _**very **_strong blader, as all of her try-out matches were finished in less than a minute.

Anyway, Raven was on her way to meet the rest of her team when she heard a pitiful moan from down an alleyway. This was quite usual in Tibet (**A/N – Not quite sure if it is, but what the heck.**), to find hungry people in these alleyways, but there was something about that moan… she'd heard that person's voice before…

Raven changed direction, and headed down the alleyway. After walking for a few seconds, she found the source of the moan. In front of her crouched a blond boy with green eyes, wearing a dark green jacket and jeans. Suddenly, she recognised the boy: he was a part of the Filipino team, Team Rock Lightning Storm AKA Spiritual Magic's next opponents! His name was Alex, Alex Santos!

But… what was he doing here?

"C-cold… so cold…" He whimpered. With a jolt of realization, she remembered that it was _**very **_cold in Tibet, and here he was in nothing more than a t-shirt, a thin jacket and jeans. Alex noticed her presence, and gazed up at Raven. "Wh-who are you?"

"You're Alex Santos, from Team Rock Lightning Storm." Raven said coldly.

"Y-yes, th-that's my name." He shivered.

"I'm Raven. I'm part of the Himalayan team. I guess you've been sent here by your teammates to spy on us, correct?"

"N-no! I'm here b-because of my own r-reasons!"

"Hmm… Come with me. I'll take you somewhere warmer, ok?" Raven's voice softened. After all, what reason would Alex have to lie? He was cold and lost in an unfamiliar place.

"Th-thanks." Alex stood up shakily, and followed Raven out of the alleyway, down the Tibetan streets.

**/=+=/**

"You found a stray?" Raven's twin sister, Dawn Azure, raised an eyebrow at the sight of Alex. Dawn wore clothes _**exactly **_like some from a game that she played (Dragon Quest IX): a gold Star Circlet, a Bunny Suit (**A/N – It's not what you think it is!**) as her shirt, a Magical Skirt, an Eïnhander and a pair of Starlet Sandals.

"Yeah, pretty much. Look, this is one of Team Rock Lightning Storm's members!"

"Really? Oh yeah! So he is!" Dawn exclaimed. "But… why is he soaked to the bone?"

"I found him in the streets, just like this. You'll have to ask him if you want the answer to that."

"Alex-" Dawn started, but realised that Alex had dragged himself over to the sofa (it was handy, even if it was a training dojo) and had fallen asleep. "… Poor guy. We should contact the WBBA."

"Yeah. He assured me that he _wasn't _spying on us, so I'm not quite sure what he's doing here. But I have a feeling that he's not here with his team knowing. He just seems to be hiding something."

* * *

**THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!**

**HOLY CHURROS! THIS WAS 10 PAGES LONG! Bes-chan, did I write Raven and Dawn ok? o3o**

**Questions~~~**

**1! Why **_**is **_**Alex in Himalaya?**

**2! Was the team who you expected (The answer's no, because the team belongs to Bes-chan! And only Bes-chan expected them, so your answer DOES NOT COUNT! XD)?**

**RANDOM QUESTION! YOU WANT CHURROS, NO?**

**3! Do any of you even know Sherlock?**

**4! Who thinks Sherlock!Miku is just plain hilarious? *puts up hand* I know I do! X3**

**SO ANYWAYS, READ AND REVIEW? :3**


	16. Team Spiritual Magic

**Don't worry, I AM still here. Und not in some random place with no laptop. So ja.**

**I AM MADE IN GERMANY~~~ EINIGKEIT UND RECHT UND FREIHEIT! … Wow, I love that song.**

**azure blue espeon: Well, apparently Tibet, Bhutan and… another country… Nepal, I think… are entirely within the Himalayas. That is, according to Wikipedia. Yep~~~ Sherlock!Miku was SO much fun to write~ **

**memoranda: Yesh, I blame it on Germany too. But Japan… *sigh* und China… *sigh* und Hong Kong… *sigh* *hands churros* ^-^;**

**The-Gray-Ninja: Yes, I am alive. *huggles back* Oh… GET BETTER SOON! *gives you churros and PAAASTA***

**ANimEisAweSOmE4400****: … :D**

**Bes9200: Danke~~~**

**Guest: Interesting… YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT CHURROS ARE?! *dies* *comes back to life* They're awesome Spanish donuts! :3**

**Darker Dusk: HAVE FUN~~~ It's… not in France… is it? O_O**

**You guys should TOTALLY try churros dipped in vanilla ice-cream. Art and Soul-chan told me to, und they are EPIC! :U**

**ON VITH ZHE STORY IN AN AWESOME GERMAN ACCENT, JA? BECAUSE I AM ZHE AWESOME PRUSSIA, UND I AM AWESOME!**

… **Continue. There will be no disclaimers today, for you should all know that I **_**DO **_**own Beyblade! *shot***

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 16: Team Spiritual Magic

"S-so cold!" Miku shivered, frantically rubbing her bare arms in an attempt to warm them up.

"I-I agree!" Charice nodded, shaking some snow out of her hair.

"I think I-I'm going to c-catch hypothermia…" Tazmin whimpered.

"_Maybe you should've brought a coat." _Mitsuki smiled, nice and warm in a thick winter coat. _"Anyway, where are we headed again?" _The four girls had gone to Tibet, leaving Kyoya, Dashan and Nile behind, since they had to head to their next World Championship battles.

"Um… I-I think Hikaru said th-that we had to find a B-beyblade training d-dojo." Charice answered.

"Why don't we ask some locals?" Miku suggested.

"… What language do they speak here?"

"_Several languages, such as Tibetan and Mandarin Chinese-"_

"Mandarin Chinese? I can speak that!" Charice said excitedly.

"… Seriously?"

"Yeah! That, English, Tagalog (Filipino), Japanese, a slight bit of German, Russian and Spanish, and I learnt a bit of French in school!" Charice chirped happily.

"… Woooah." Tazmin made an :O face… literally. "Privet [1]!"

"Privet!" Charice replied back in Russian. The two then started a conversation in Russian (which was rather limited, mind you).

"What are they saying?"

"_I have no idea. Charice? Mind speaking to a local?"_

"Ja, sure." She casually walked up to a nearby Tibetan, talked for a bit in Mandarin, before sauntering back over. "It's that way."

**/=+=/**

"Um… hello? Nǐ hǎo [2]?" Charice knocked on the door of a very large building. "What's hello in Tibetan?"

"Dunno." The other three replied in unison.

"Looks like it's empty," Charice sighed. "So what are we going to do?"

"Dunno." The other three replied in unison.

"I mean, there must be _someone _in there!"

"Dunno." The other three said in unison.

"… Are you three going to keep saying 'Dunno' in unison?"

"Dunno." The other three replied in unison.

"… Shut up.

"Dunno." Miku shrugged.

…_? _The other three thought in unison.

"Can I help you?" The group turned around to see a girl with long black hair, fangs just like Kyoya's, earmuffs, snow boots, a jacket and blue leggings standing behind them.

"Nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma [3]?" Charice questioned.

"Shì. I mean, yes." The girl responded. "I'm Raven. You must be Team RLS?"

"Yeah, that's us. You're part of Spiritual Magic, I presume?"

"Yes. You're here for Alex." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

"That's right. So where is he?"

"Through here. DAWN, OPEN UP!" Raven yelled, and a few moments later, the door creaked open slightly, leaving a small crack. An emerald-green eye peeked out through the crack.

"Wh-who is it? Oh, it's you, Raven. Come in!" The door swung open (hitting Miku in the process), revealing a girl who looked like a video-game character with dark brown hair and fangs (_Is it a Tibetan thing? _Charice asked herself).

"Ouch…" Miku groaned, rubbing her (very red and very sore) forehead.

"Oops! Sorry! Um… what language do they speak?" Dawn, Charice assumed, enquired Raven.

"English. And this one," Raven pointed at Charice, "speaks Chinese too."

"And Tagalog. And Japanese. And-"

"Shut up; we don't need a repeat of all those languages. We're here for Alex." Miku snapped.

"Ok, ok… jeez!"

"Alex? Oh, you must be Team Rock Lightning Storm, then! I'm Raven's sister, Dawn!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Well done." Miku growled.

"_Sorry about her: she's a little… um… how to put it?"_

"Annoyed? Irritable? Grumpy? Grouchy? Cranky? Ba-" Charice offered.

"**SHUT UP!" **Miku shouted, punching Charice on the arm. Hard.

"Oi! Don't do that!" Charice snarled, and hit Miku back. Harder.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Miku roared, and thus began the cat-fight between the two, Mitsuki and Tazmin attempting to separate the two of them (epically failing).

"Um… sister? Shouldn't we stop them?" Dawn asked anxiously.

"Nah. Let them fight. Anyway, it's kinda entertaining." Raven sat down on the wooden stairs, watching intently as Charice kicked Miku in the face.

"**OH, YOU'RE PAYING, NINJA-GIRL!" **Miku raged, beginning to chase Charice around the snow-covered street.

Laughing, Charice looked back at the fuming Miku, when suddenly, she ran into someone. She fell to the floor, landing on her back.

"Ouch…" She sat up, brushed the snow off of her back, before standing up. "Sorry!"

"It's ok." The girl Charice had bumped into had a daisy in her short brown hair, and was wearing a yellow t-shirt that said "I HEART TREES" on it, a green shirt and green-heeled flats with a yellow tip. She was carrying a bag of groceries in her arms. "Raven? Dawn?"

"Oh, hi Marigold. You're back?" Dawn waved at the girl.

"Yeah. They were out of eggs, though…" She said in a _very _quiet voice. If Marigold was just a _tiny _bit quieter, she could've been Mitsuki's sister.

"Ah well."

During that, Charice had been whipping her head around at the sisters and Marigold repeatedly, trying to work out the connection between the three of them.

"Marigold, meet Team RLS!" Dawn smiled.

"T-team RLS? You're here already? I'm Marigold, the supporter for Team SM."

"The supporter? So… who's the other regular and the sub?"

"Well, Crystalline's the other regular, while Lily-Cocoa's the sub!" Dawn chirped.

"And speaking of Crystalline, here she comes." Raven said.

A girl with piercing ice-blue eyes was trudging towards the dojo, hands stuffed in her pockets, eyes focused on the ground. She had lavender-coloured hair up in a bun, and wore a deep-sea blue, long-sleeved shirt with ice-blue yoga pants and navy-blue sneakers.

"Well, someone likes blue." Charice heard Miku scoff quietly.

"Hey, Crystalline!" Dawn called. Crystalline looked up, nodded in acknowledgement, and stared back down at the ground. "Crystalline prefers solitude, instead of other people's company." Dawn explained.

Crystalline reached the group, gave a small wave, and walked into the dojo.

"If you're lucky, Lily will walk along!" They waited… and waited… and waited. But no-one came.

"Maybe she'll come later. You want Alex back?" Raven stood up.

"Yeah, why not? I mean, he really must miss us." Charice grinned. "Why deprive him of our company for any longer?"

"Very well." Raven led them into the dojo, letting the door slam behind them. "He should be either in the kitchen, or the stadium room. He's been practicing with that bey of his ever since he gained his strength back. I'll go and get him, so you can just hang around here until we come back. If you're hungry, Dawn'll make something for you." And with that, Raven disappeared down a corridor.

"FINALLY! WARMTH!" Miku sighed, flopping onto a nearby sofa (which Charice HAD NOT noticed).

"_Can we have something to eat? I'm kinda hungry…"_

"Yeah, sure!" Dawn vanished into another room.

"…" Silence took hold of the foyer, if that was the right word. Charice glanced over at Marigold. She was leaning over a notebook, scribbling something down in it. Miku was sleeping, while Mitsuki and Tazmin were chatting to each other.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice questioned them. Charice looked up, and saw a bemused Alex standing in the corridor.

"Alex! It _**is**_ you!"

"What, you were expecting someone else?" The bemused expression was replaced with a wide grin. Alex was back. Or technically, Team RLS was back together again.

**Hehehe! So Alex is back, but has his sanity been returned? o3o**

**QUESTIONS!**

**ONE~! What did you think of Team Spiritual Magic (or at least, what you've seen of them)?**

**TWO~! WHO LOVES FILLERS? CUZ THERE'S GONNA BE A WHOLE LOAD OF THEM! … Or at least, I think there will be…**

**RANDOM QUESTION~! Um… PAAASTA! Yes/No?**

**THREE~! Is Alex sane? :3 Or is he still *flash of lightning behind flame-chan*… INSANE? X3**

**FOUR~! Um… WHO WANTS TO SEE MORE FIGHTS BETWEEN MIKU AND CHARICE? *puts hand up***

**FIVE (I CAN'T HELP IT!)~! WHO LIKES CHARICE'S NEW NICKNAME? NINJA-GIRL? Creative, right?**

**TRANSLATIONS (DONE BY MY OWN KNOWLEDGE OF MY LANGUAGE! :3 IT'S CHINESE, NOT RUSSIAN. BUT MY BEST FRIEND'S RUSSIAN, SO…)**

**[1] 'Hello' in Russian**

**[2] 'Hello' in Mandarin Chinese**

**[3] 'Can you speak English?' in Mandarin Chinese**

**REVIEW, OR ELSE I WILL BOMBARD YOUR HOUSE WITH FRANCES AND RUSSIAS! … Remember, I know how many of you read this but don't review with something called TRAFFIC STATS! :U**

**So, reviews? :3**


	17. Hetalia

**HERRO ARU! I AM IN THE COUNTRYSIDE~~~ :U Und I CAN'T STAND THE BUGS! Seriously. I can't even take a **_**SHOWER**_** without nearly screaming my head off when a moth flies and lands on a wall. -3- We're staying in DORSET~~~**

**Sorry for taking so long! *bows* I'll give all you reviewers something extra too! You all get pasta AND scones! And before you ask, no, no the scones were NOT made by Iggy.**

**So ja. I would write answers to the reviews, but I can't be bothered, so I'll just say DANKE TO ALL WHO REVIEWED! *dies of the sheer awesomeness of you guys***

**Charice: … *pokes flame-chan's body* She's dead. Anyway, thanks to all those who reviewed, and you all get a free Crystalline plushie. *throws you all plushies***

**Miku: FLAME-CHAN OWNS BEYBLADE!**

**Mitsuki: **_**No she doesn't…**_

**Alex: The authoress doesn't own Beyblade, only us. Bes9200 owns Team Spiritual Magic. Oh yeah, and she doesn't own Hetalia.**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 17: Hetalia

"So, uh… Raven?"

"Yes?" the said Blader replied.

"… WHAT IS THERE TO DO?!"

Team Spiritual Magic had agreed to let RLS (and Tazmin…) stay at the dojo until after their battle, so Charice was lounging on the sofa, bored to death. Mitsuki was sitting on the floor, reading a book (_Where'd she get that from…? _Charice thought), while Miku and Tazmin were having a heated argument over who was more awesome and Alex was watching TV (a documentary about hawks. _Boring! _Charice mentally head-desked), leaning against the sofa.

"Well, you could ask Crystalline if she could lend you an anime to watch. Or a manga, if you're up to reading. She's got a whole stash of that rubbish." Raven suggested.

"I'm lazy, can't be bothered to read: I'll go for an anime. Plus, that 'rubbish. is pretty good, you know. YO! CRYSTALLINE!" Charice called. Crystalline looked up from her 'Book of Yawns' as Raven called it (it was a book of poetry…).

"What?" She asked coldly. Crystalline did _not _like being interrupted from writing her poetry.

"Like, lend me an anime, won't you?"

"Why?" Crystalline narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"I'm boooored." Charice moaned.

"… Fine. Come with me." Crystalline laid her book on the sofa and trudged down a corridor.

"W-wait for me!" Charice rolled off of the sofa, running to catch up with the blunette (**A/N – Get it? Blunette? Instead of 'brunette'? … Never mind…**).

After leading her up some rickety, old stairs, Crystalline pushed open a door and ushered Charice inside.

"There. Take your pick." She motioned at a box filled to the brim with manga and anime of all sorts.

"Woah… Do you collect them, then?" Charice rushed over to the box, pulling out a handful.

"I guess," She crouched down next to Charice. "If you can't choose, how about this one?" Crystalline held out an anime to Charice. On the front were three men in military uniforms. One had auburn hair (and a… curl…) and was smiling happily at Charice. Another had blond hair with blue eyes, while the third had black hair and dull obsidian eyes. At the top were the words 'Hetalia Axis Powers' with the shape of Italy behind the text.

"What is this? I mean, I know it's Hetalia, obviously, but what's it about?" Charice questioned, examining the case.

"Well, it's about Italy, once home of the strongest empire in the world, and he has changed. This is about the story of Italy, who is now a cowardly pasta-loving fool and his friends (other personified countries of the world) as they live through strange moments in world history." Crystalline replied.

"So… the countries as humans?"

"To put it simply, yes."

"Awesome! I'm watching that!" Charice exclaimed, skipping downstairs, shoving Alex out of the way and inserting the disk into the DVD player next to the TV. Alex grumbled, but said nothing.

A few minutes later, Crystalline walked down, only to find Charice's eyes glued to the screen, watching intently as America shouted, "Dude, I think the world conference can convene, solving all of today's problems by talking excessively! No matter how hard it seems, we can fix anything with enough meetings and photo ops." And so on.

**/=+=/**

"Alright, so how was Hetalia or whatever anime you were watching?" Dawn asked, setting down plates on the dining table for everybody. It was lunchtime.

"Ve~~~ It was awesome~~~" Charice sang, causing everyone to look at her strangely. "I liked Spain~~~ He was cute~~~ But China was cute too~~~ Ve~~~"

"… Why is she talking like that? Why is she saying 'Ve'? And _why _does she have cute little squiggles after her sentences?" Alex stared at Charice, almost as if expecting her to burst into song and start dancing.

"I have a feeling that she's suffering from OETH." Crystalline said.

_"OETH? What's that?"_

"Over-Exposure to Hetalia."

"_Ah…"_

"Look, I have one thing to say, and that's Spain was _not _cute." Miku said angrily.

"What?! Yes he was!" Charice pouted.

"No, he's not cute! He's hot~~~" Miku sighed dreamily.

"Miku was watching that?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"Spain's SO not hot! France is…" Tazmin sighed too.

"France is _**not **_hot! He's weird!" Miku glared at Tazmin.

"… Good God… Mitsuki, please tell me you weren't watching that." Alex begged.

"_You know, Canada seems pretty awesome. He reminds me of myself!" _

"Oh no…" Alex face-palmed.

"Ve~~~" Charice kept 'Ve'-ing cutely, while Miku and Tazmin argued over who was hotter, Spain or France. Mitsuki merely glided around (yes, _glided_).

"Guys? I've just had a message from the WBBA. Our World Championships battle will take place in two days. So-" Raven poked her head around the kitchen door, but froze when she saw the scene that was unfolding. "What on earth…?"

"Don't ask. Anyway, Raven, I thought this was a training dojo? So why does it have a kitchen and bedrooms?" Alex enquired.

"Yeah, but it's… Well, it's not our house, but we're all staying here while the Championships are on."

"Ah, well that makes sense. I guess it means that you can all practise together?"

"Yes. It's actually quite helpful."

"**PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSTAAAAAA AAAAA~~~~"**

* * *

**Ok, I'm ending it here. I know, super-short filler chapter, but honestly, I have no idea what else to write right now.**

**Iggy: *shows a séance circle thingy***

**Rest of the Allies and Axis: Yeah, we need something realistic.**

**Tee hee~~~ I'm watching the Hetalia movie right now~~~ So funny aru!**

**Oh ja, I have no idea if Canada even appears in the first few episodes, but what the heck? After all, Mitsuki **_**was **_**based on Canada…**

**Bes-chan, is it ok that Crystalline's an otaku? :3 I just thought she was the one who would be most… suitable for such a role~ ;D**

**QUESTIONS!**

**UNO~ Who else thinks that Spain's hot, France's not and China's cute? (*puts hand up* I agree with Charice AND Miku~)**

**DOS~~ Ok, who else is suffering from OETH? :3 Ve~~~ Admit it, you are too!**

**TRES (RANDOM QUESTION! XU)~~~ Who else found it awkward when France was trying to get England to marry him in the movie? (e~e I did…)**

**CUATRO~~~~ Who's looking forward to the Spiritual Magic vs. RLS battle?**

**CINCO~~~~~ Who wants to see Alex lose it again? :3**

**SO REVIEW, AND YOU'LL BECOME A HERO TOO! Tee hee~~~ It rhymes~~~**

**Ooh… I bet you all want a white flag and PAAAASTAAA! I'll give them to you to complete your Italian survival kit if you review! :3**


	18. Alex's Insanity!

**HI GUYS! Sorry for procrastinating this for so long… I blame teachers. Teachers and school. And homework. And the cucumber. XD**

**I HAVE A COLD. I FEEL TERRIBLE. ;A;**

**I AM A PERSON. I AM GREECIAN. I AM AWESOME. SO ARE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED LAST CHAPTER. YOU GET AN ITALIAN SURVIVAL KIT~ I'll also throw in a homework-doing robot thingy. Because I'm nice.**

**NOW. THE LONG AWAITED CHAPTER: THE FIRST BATTLE BETWEEN TEAM SM AND TEAM RLS. I'VE PROCRASTINATED FOR SO LONG THAT I'VE FORGOTTEN WHO'S SUPPOSED TO BE BATTLING. I'LL GO AND CHECK WHILE YOU READ THE DISCLAIMER.**

**Charice: Flame-chan does not own Beyblade, or Team SM. She only owns my team and I, and our Beys. Bes9200 owns Team SM. Now read, because I am ZHE AWESOME PRUSSIA. :P**

**Me: … No Charice, just no.**

**Zomg, it must've been at least 3 months since I've even looked at this chapter… I'm really sorry about the long update time! What was it, August or something when I last updated? I'M SO SORREH! I'll make it up to you through a really long chapter, ja? Anyway, I think I've procrastinated enough, so ON WITH THE NEXT CHAPPIE! XD**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 18: Alex's Insanity?!

"So… it's finally here…"

"Yes, yes it is."

_"… Why are Charice and Miku trying to be all dramatic?"_

"No clue. Anyone for popcorn?"

"Hell yeah!"

**/=+=/**

**BEEP!**

"Huh? What was that?"

"Oh, that's my email. Guys, look at this!" RLS rushed over to Alex, who was sitting in front of his ivy-green laptop. "The WBBA has sent us Team Spiritual Magic's battle order! Dawn is advance guard, Raven is the second-in-command and Crystalline is the commander!"

"So Raven's not going last…? Well, I dibs fighting Raven!" Charice grinned.

"H-hey! I was going to say that!" Miku protested.

"I'll fight Dawn, if that's ok with you." Alex stood up, turning to face the others.

"Um… I don't know…" Charice didn't know what to say. It was possible that Alex would go insane again, and that Dawn could be badly injured. She certainly didn't want to be sued by more anxious teammates…

"Why not?"

_Does Alex not remember what happened?_ Charice thought.

"Do you not trust me?" Alex looked hurt.

"I-I guess it wouldn't hurt…" What was she saying?! "Alright, you can fight Dawn." She didn't mean that! Why did she say it?!

"Uh…" Mitsuki and Miku gaped at her. She mouthed 'I don't know' at the two of them.

"… Well, I want to fight Crystalline! Please, please, please, please, PLEEEEASE!" Miku literally begged.

"_I don't think I want to fight this time, so it's ok with me."_

Charice breathed out heavily, inwardly facepalming at her teammate's over-enthusiasm, "Fine then, you can fight Crystalline."

"YESSSSSS!"

**/=+=/**

Now stuffing their faces with popcorn, Team RLS were chilling out in the team room, watching the Himalayan DJ introduce the battle on the TV.

"Hey, does anyone else find it strange that they're all called DJs? I mean, has anyone actually seen them play music or something?" Miku randomly asked.

"Miku. It's just a name. And no, I don't think they're even slightly musically talented." Charice deadpanned.

"Yeah, but-"

"And now, would the teams please make their way to the stadium entrances!" The speaker blared, deafening Miku who just so happened to be standing next to it.

"THAT HURT, STUPID AUTOCOM!" Alex and Charice literally had to drag Miku away from the speaker to stop her from ripping it from the ceiling and stamping on it.

**/=+=/**

"Put your hands together for the Filippino team, Team Rock Lightning Storm! Please welcome Charice Lorrendos, Alex Santos, Miku Layosa and Mitsuki Malicsi!" The crowd cheered as the team walked out.

"Whoo! WE'RE AWESOME! WE'RE THE BEST TEAM EVER!" Miku yelled, waving her hands about like a madman.

"…" The crowd fell silent, gawking at Miku.

"Um… okaaaaay… Calm down, Miku." Charice laughed awkwardly, pulling Miku over to their stand.

_"It's times like this that I enjoy being unnoticed."_ Mentally, Mitsuki thanked the divine deity that had given her this salvation.

"Uh, ok… Anyway, please welcome our own team, TEAM SPIRITUAL MAGIC! Their team consists of Raven Azure, Dawn Azure, Crystalline Xenon and Lily Azure! Marigold Field is their support member!" Raven and her team came out to a loud roar from the crowd that nearly deafened Miku… again.

"OH, SO THEY GET A LOUDER CHEER." Miku half-yelled, causing the Himalayan DJ to ogle her as if she'd grown a second head. But then again, knowing Miku, it was always possible.

"Be quiet, Miku!" Charice snapped, covering Miku's mouth with a hand, "Haha… Don't mind her!" She called to the Himalayan DJ, only moving her hand when she decided Miku would shut up.

"Uh… ok then…" The DJ regained his composure, "Would the advance guards please step forward!"

Dawn stepped forwards, grinning, "So who's going to fight me?"

"Me." Alex calmly walked over to the stadium, attaching Lightning Accipiter to his launcher.

"Oh goody! You're the one who beat that Renee and the spider bey of hers!" Dawn skipped over, holding out a bey, "But you're going to be defeated at the hands of my Abominable Golem!" The bey glinted, and the crowd cheered at her words, chanting 'Abominable Golem' and 'Dawn' like there was no tomorrow. Only Nile and Kyoya (they had already defeated their opponents– a feat that greatly surprised Charice - and had flown over to Tibet straight away), and Tazmin appeared to be supporting Team RLS, which greatly saddened the violet-eyed girl.

"As if I would let that happen!" Alex gripped his launcher tightly, narrowing his eyes as he stared down the green-eyed brunette.

"3! 2! 1!" The crowd yelled.

"LET IT RIP!" Alex and Dawn shouted, launching their beys. Accipiter and Golem flew past each other harmlessly, before hitting the stadium floor and beginning their orbit around the stadium.

"And the two beys have entered the stadium! Alex's bey is a Lightning Accipiter, while Dawn's is the incredible ADOMINABLE GOLEM! With a bey like Golem, there's no way Dawn will lose to Alex!" Miku scoffed at this, glaring heatedly at the Himalayan DJ.

"Well, someone _**certainly **_isn't taking any sides, are they?" She said rather loudly to Mitsuki and Charice, looking quite affronted. Charice swiftly covered the black-haired girl's mouth again, and hissed into her ear, "Shut up, Miku, unless you want us to get kicked out of the competition!" When Miku mumbled something against her hand that sounded like "That won't happen", Charice told her it could happen. After hearing that, Miku seemed to shut her mouth, so she focused her attention back on the battle.

"Drilling Peck!" Alex ordered Accipiter, and the hawk appeared. It shot towards Golem, beak outstretched and ready to attack.

"And Alex uses a special move right off the bat! It's clear he wants to finish this quickly!" The Himalayan DJ said.

"Pulling out the big guns already, eh? Then we'll do the same! Golem, Snow Avalanche!" The giant beast of Golem materialized, roaring its challenge to Accipiter. Stamping its great feet as a sumo would, it let out another bellow. The actual bey jumped up and down twice, instead of stomping its non-existent feet. Accipiter continued speeding towards it, but before it could even touch the vast beast, it was smothered with an enormous pile of snow.

"Accipiter!" Alex yelped, looking quite worried.

"Yeah, bulls eye!" Dawn whooped. "You know, unless you can get out of the snow, which is really unlikely, Accipiter will stop spinning before you know it, what with all that immense weight on top of it. This battle's mine already!" She hollered, which only caused the crowd to cheer louder.

"Well done, Dawn!" Raven called out, pleased with her sister's performance

"Accipiter's attack is effortlessly foiled by Golem's special move, Snow Avalanche! As you can tell, it drops a mound of snow right on top of the enemy! No bey stands a chance of getting out of that!" The Himalayan DJ commentated, clearly believing that the battle was over already.

"C'mon Alex, you can beat her!" Miku hooted, yet her cries were lost in the roars of the crowd. Alex himself, however, had become extremely quiet, and was staring down at the ground. Although the rest of his team couldn't see it – he had his back to them, obviously - Nile and the others could see the shadow obscuring his eyes: definitely a bad sign.

"Charice, look out! He's going insane again!" Nile tried to warn the brunette, but his words, like Miku's were also lost in the crowd's cheering. "This is bad, really bad…" He muttered to Kyoya, who was sitting next to him, but he merely gave a curt nod and kept watching the battle.

On Kyoya's other side, Tazmin yelled to no avail, "ALEX, SNAP OUT OF IT! JUST KEEP FIGHTING LIKE YOU USUALLY DO! DON'T-" She was cut off by Kyoya placing a hand on her petite shoulder and saying, "It's pointless, Tazmin. They won't be able to hear us, or at least, not with the crowd yelling this loud."

"But-" Her protests were interrupted by Nile suddenly exclaiming, "This is terrible! I think Alex has finally lost it!" Their attention immediately changed to Alex, who appeared to be chuckling. If it wasn't for the shadow still masking his eyes, it would've looked like he was just laughing innocently. But because of the concealing darkness, it was more like an evil chuckle, something which Nile didn't hesitate to assume it was.

"**So you thought you could beat me…"** His voice was unexpectedly loud, loud enough to silence the crowd. **"Well, you're wrong!"** Alex roared, the same dark blue aura as before surrounding him. Yet that wasn't what shocked everyone the most. What alarmed, and also scared them all (even Kyoya, but he wouldn't admit it) were his eyes: they were as crimson as blood and his pupils were gone.

"Alex! Snap out of it!" Charice, Mitsuki and Miku all cried at once.

"**SHUT UP!" **He bellowed, spinning on his heel to fix those red eyes on his teammates.

"Meep…" Miku whimpered pathetically, and quickly hid behind the shaking Mitsuki.

"**YOU WILL NOT STOP ME FROM WINNING!" **Alex growled, before turning back to face the stunned Dawn. **"Now Accipiter, BREAK FREE!" **Nothing happened for a few moments, but suddenly the snow mound was smashed into a million pieces, exposing Accipiter bathed in dark-blue like its Blader.

"What is this?! It got out?!" She exclaimed, "Isn't this using additional powers?! Isn't that against the rules?!" She questioned the Himalayan DJ, but got no reply – he was too busy quaking in his boots to say anything, not even to comment on the battle. "Alright then, I guess I'll just have to take you on anyway!"

"I-is she insane?!" Charice murmured to Mitsuki.

"_I-I don't k-know…" _The girl managed to stutter out, still in fright from seeing her teammate like that.

"Come on, do your very worst!" Dawn challenged, and Golem howled its approval.

"**JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU WERE THE ONE WHO BROUGHT THIS ON TO YOURSELF! ACCIPITER, DARK LIGHTNING SPARK!" **The sinister version of the hawk cawed ominously, becoming bathed in even more of that dark blue aura. All of a sudden, it discharged the extra force in a rapid burst of dusky electricity, which sped towards Golem.

"Golem! Block it!" Dawn commanded her bey. Golem tipped backwards, revealing a rubber spin track. The electricity was absorbed into the spin track, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. "Now, send it right back at it!" As soon as she had ordered it, the electricity shot out from the spin track, charging straight back at its creator.

"**Accipiter, dodge it!" **Accipiter moved to avoid it, but was a millisecond too slow. It was hit by its own move, and Accipiter's beast crashed into the ground. The bey itself was shrouded in a cloud of dust. Once it had cleared, the bey was still spinning, but had a slight wobble to its movements. Growling, Alex issued another attack, **"TEARING FIRE SLASH, ACCIPITER!" **The hawk squawked, its bloodied talons seemingly blazing with a menacing shade of purple flames, before it launched itself at Golem, flaming talons outstretched. The bey was veiled in the same flames as its beast's claws, and zoomed towards its opponent.

"Snow Avalanche!" Like before, Golem stomped its feet, and a heap of snow plummeted towards Accipiter. The dark hawk paused in its assault, and with two slashes of its sharp, scorching claws, the snow sizzled and melted in mid-air. Threat eliminated, Accipiter rushed towards Golem once more. The two beys clashed, sparks flying as the searing heat of Accipiter met with the cold metal of Golem's fusion wheel. "Hold it off, Golem!" Dawn yelled, and her bey instantly conformed, pushing back the hawk.

"**IT'S HOPELESS! YOU CANNOT BLOCK A HEAD-ON ATTACK FROM ACCIPITER WHEN IT'S LIKE THIS!" **Alex laughed manically, **"SHOW THEM YOUR TRUE STRENGTH, ACCIPITER!"** It complied instantaneously, easily pushing Golem backwards, towards the edge of the stadium.

"Golem! Escape!" Dawn cried. Pushing Accipiter back slightly, Golem managed to break away from the hawk's unrelenting attack, and darted to the other side of the stadium.

"**Running away, are we? Well, that's just COWARDLY!" **Alex snarled, eyes flashing an even more evil red.

By this time, the Himalayan DJ had finally recovered from his shock, and was now commenting on the state of Alex, "Alex seems to have lost it! And those eyes, they're blood red! What on earth has happened to him?!"

"**HE'S BEEN POSSESSED BY ALIENS, THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENED!" **Miku screamed.

"**SHUT UP ABOUT ALIENS ALREADY, WILL YOU?!"** Charice shrieked back, grabbing hold of the front of Miku's black jacket.

"**WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO, NINJA-GIRL?!" **Miku screeched, and the two started fighting.

"_Um… just ignore them…" _Mitsuki said, but naturally, no-one heard her. And anyway, everyone was too focused on the intense battle to pay any attention to the two warring girls.

"**ACCIPITER, DARK LIGHTNING SPARK AGAIN!" **As before, Accipiter was engulfed by more dark-blue aura, sending it towards Golem once it had charged up enough.

"That won't work! Golem, absorb it again!" Golem tipped back like the last time, and absorbed the lightning into its spin track. It sent it speeding back to Accipiter, hitting it dead-on.

"Golem thwarts Accipiter's attack once again, and it hits Accipiter straight on! Surely Accipiter can't withstand two of those attacks?" When the dust cleared, Accipiter was wobbling even more. Still spinning, but wobbling dangerously.

"Alright, Golem! Attack while it's weakened!" Dawn instructed, and Golem raced towards the wavering bey. To Charice, from then on everything seemed like it was in slow motion. She and Miku stopped fighting, turning their heads towards the battle. Mitsuki tensed, and so did Nile and Tazmin. Kyoya remained as impassive as ever. Alex's red eyes widened in disbelief as Golem smashed into Accipiter, propelling it out of the stadium. It flew through the air, shooting past Miku's ear with a hairsbreadth to spare and embedded itself in the arena's wall, finally losing its dark-blue cloak.

"Th-the battle is over! With a final strike from Golem, Accipiter flies out of the stadium and into the arena wall! The winner is Dawn Azure!" The Himalayan DJ announced. Leaping up into the air, Dawn caught her bey and laughed happily, running back to her team. Charice watched with a heavy heart as she was congratulated by her team.

"Miku, we _must_win our battles, ok?" She said to the brown-eyed girl, determination in her eyes.

"You bet! I won't lose to anyone!" Miku nodded, obviously excited for her battle, if it were to come.

_That's right… it depends entirely on me now. I have to win my battle, or we're out of the competition. But the thing is… I know nothing about Raven's bey or anything. I just have to hope that she's in a similar position with Wyvern and I. _In all of her apprehension for her battle against Raven, she'd completely forgotten about Alex, as did Miku. However, Mitsuki hadn't forgotten him, and soon shook Charice and Miku out of their trances.

"_Guys, look at Alex!" _She tugged at their sleeves to get their attention, and then pointed at Alex.

"**I… lo**st…" He was muttering. From where Nile, Kyoya and Tazmin were seated, they could see his eyes slowly losing their red hue and were changing back to their usual green colour.

"He's snapping out of it!" Tazmin squealed joyfully, but her face fell when Alex collapsed on to the floor in a heap.

"_**Alex!"**_ Charice, Miku, Mitsuki, Tazmin and Nile all yelled, and his teammates ran down to him. Tazmin quickly made her way to the end of the row, running to down the stairs and jumping over the arena wall to go to join them. Since he wasn't their teammate, and they didn't know him that well anyway, Nile and Kyoya only exchanged a worried glance. Well, Nile did a worried glance, while Kyoya simply raised an eyebrow.

"Oh my gosh, Alex, are you alright?" Charice inquired anxiously, tentatively prodding said Blader.

"He's unconscious," Tazmin said, before checking his pulse, "but otherwise fine."

"So we don't need to call the hospital?"

"Shouldn't need to. If only I had all of the herbs I had when I was with the tribe, then he'd be fine in no time. But without them…" Tazmin trailed off.

" _We might need to call off the battle for a while, just to make sure he's ok. I mean, I'm sure you won't be able to fight properly if you didn't know how he was, could you Charice?"_

"Probably not… Hey, Himalayan DJ! We need to postpone the next battle!" Charice called to the DJ.

"How long for?"

"_I'm not sure… I think a day or two should be enough."_ Mitsuki replied, after examining Alex closely.

"Well?"

_Of course, he didn't hear Mitsuki. _Charice mentally sighed, and repeated what Mitsuki had said.

"Alright… just contact the WBBA when you're ready."

"Thanks," She turned to her teammates, "now we should get him back to Raven's place, yeah?"

**/=+=/**

With _**some**_ help from Nile and Kyoya (in other words, making them do everything), they got Alex to Team SM's training dojo and rested him on the sofa. A few minutes later, Team SM walked in.

"How's he doing?" Raven asked.

"He's doing fine. He should be ok after a long rest and some food." Tazmin answered, turning to face them.

"Good. I mean, I certainly don't want to have to wait for our battle much longer, if you get me, Charice?"

"Yeah, I get you." The two girls stared at each other coldly, neither wanting to lose this unofficial staring contest. They only stopped when Miku opened the kitchen door and entered the room again, a jam sandwich in her hand. They quickly switched to staring at Miku, who got extremely creeped out. Slowly, she then backed into the kitchen, not even daring to look away until she shut the door.

"Well, that was weird." Holding back her laughter, Tazmin tore her gaze from the now-closed kitchen door and studied Lily. After all, that was the first time they'd seen her up close. She had thigh-length brown hair in two ponytails, and had a crown of flowers atop her head. Her red-ish pink-ish eyes were hidden behind pink glasses, and she wore a white, sleeveless dress. On her feet was a pair of black Mary-Jane shoes. Like Raven and Kyoya, she had small fangs, but they didn't look as sharp as theirs. "Hi Lily! I'm Tazmin, Team RLS's supporter! You're the sub, right?" Lily didn't respond; she only pulled out a notebook from somewhere and started scribbling something in it. "Uh… did you hear me?" A few seconds later, she held up the notebook. On the page, it read, "Hi Tazmin! It's nice to meet you. Yes, I'm the sub, and yes, I did hear you." Raven noticed the confused look on Tazmin's face, and explained.

"Lily's shy around new people… and boys. She writes in the notebook instead of talking to them until she gets used to them."

"Fair enough." Her attention turned to Alex when he let out a small groan. "Alex! Are you awake?"

"Y-yeah… where a-am I? Wh-what happened? D-did I win m-my fight?" He moaned, attempting to sit up, but Mitsuki pushed him back down.

"_You're at Team SM's training dojo. You collapsed from exhaustion after your battle. And no… I'm sorry, Alex. You lost."_

"That's not-" Charice started, but held her tongue when Mitsuki glared at her and shook her head. "I mean… It's not a problem that you lost, so don't worry. Miku and I will win our battles!" This earned a snort from Raven.

"You won't win, trust me." She scoffed, before walking out of the room.

"Hate to say it, but she's right." Crystalline said with a blank face, following her teammate out.

That afternoon, the tension in the dojo was higher than ever.

* * *

**I'M SO HAPPY I JUST WROTE 6 PAGES IN ONE AFTERNOON! AND THIS IS 12 PAGES LONG! WHO'S THE BOSS? FLAME-CHAN IS! WHOOOO! XD **

**Ahem. Anyway, as I said at the beginning, thank you for being patient for this chapter. To be honest, I had pretty much given up on this. But when AmmyChey3X wrote the first review in a very long time, I remembered how many people read and love this. I guess that kinda just woke me up, and I've decided that even if I'm not into Beyblade as much, I'll continue this fanfic for the readers. So thank you, AmmyChey3X for helping me see this~! I am indebted to you, I guess! X3**

**No questions today, but because I'm feeling nice, I'm going to give everybody who reviews a basket filled with churros, cookies, cake, chocolate and chips. Omg, I've just realised they all start with 'C'! So click that nice review box and review! XD**


	19. Conflicts

**Ugh, I have a bad cough again… the only good thing about it is that I'm off school, which means I have more time to write this! And I'm really happy about how many views I got this month for this story! 371 views in the first half of January! Thank you to all those who read this, because even views make me extremely happy! Of course I love everyone who reviews even more! From now on I'm going to put 'thank you' in a different language every chapter, starting with English!**

**THANK YOU! XD**

**Disclaimer – .edalbyeB nwo ton od I ****READ BACKWARDS!**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

Chapter 19: Conflicts

Dinner that night was unbearable. Everyone seated around the table was scowling at the person opposite them, and even Mitsuki was staring at Lily. Kyoya was leaning against the kitchen counter, rapidly chewing on a chicken leg, while Nile was sitting atop the counter, swinging his legs and humming quietly. Of course, Alex was resting on the sofa with his food, but only because Tazmin had insisted. This continued for another few agonising minutes, nobody wanting to break the tense silence. Miku's eye twitched as Crystalline cocked her head slightly, still unblinking. Raven and Charice were glaring daggers at each other, their food completely untouched and forgotten in the heat of their second staring contest. Even the two support members were glowering at each other.

Finally Nile said, "Can you stop staring at each other? It's really weirding me and Kyoya out…" To which Kyoya snorted, "You mean it's weirding _you _out. I don't care what they do." He ripped some more meat off of the bone.

As soon as they'd heard Nile's voice, all heads turned towards the kitchen counter to stare at Nile so fast that the boy was surprised they didn't get whiplash, "Don't start…" He breathed out heavily, "Seriously guys. I know you're all tense about the battles, but honestly? There's no need to glare at each other like that, even if you are stressed."

"We're not stressed!" They all snapped, before glowering at each other again.

"At least I tried." Nile sighed, turning to the plate of food beside him, "Want another chicken leg?" He asked Kyoya, who grunted in response after throwing the now-bare chicken bone into the bin. If he hadn't seen Kyoya picking the bone clean, he would've sworn it never had anything on it before. Once the boy had another chicken leg, he was tearing the meat off in no time flat.

Normally, Charice would snort and say something about Kyoya's fangs actually being useful for something, but she was too engrossed in her third staring contest with Raven. All she could focus on were the purple eyes opposite her which, Charice noted, were ever-so-slightly darker than her own.

Nile rolled his eyes at Kyoya's behaviour, causing the teal-haired boy to say, "What? It's good chicken," between mouthfuls.

Silence took hold for a few more minutes, and Nile was the one to break it again, "No, really guys. This is just stupid, so stop staring at each other." When he was ignored, he walked up to the table and banged his fist on it, making everybody jump and lose their focus.

"Nile?! What did you do that for?!" Charice yelled.

"It's annoying! Stop it already! I don't care if you're worried about the battles; just stop glaring at each other! Anyway, what's the point of staring contests if you're concerned?! They have nothing to do with Beyblade, and that seems to be the reason why you're doing them!" Nile lost it, shouting at the girl. Abruptly, Charice stood up, knocking her chair over in the process, and stormed over to the green-eyed boy.

"Well, I'm sorry! We're not as incredible as you two! We can't just defeat our opponents in no time flat, yeah?! We actually have to fight hard for our wins! So of course we're worried about the battles! I'm sorry that _you,_" Charice jabbed a finger in his chest as she said the words, "don't understand our anxiety because you think you're 'so high and mighty' in blading, unlike us!"

"I don't think I'm 'high and mighty' in blading! And I never said anything about being better than you! I'm just telling you to stop your stupid staring contests!" Nile retorted, "And anyway, if you're really _that _worried, then you should be practising, not having staring contests!"

"Shut up! I don't care! Just… just leave me alone!" Charice screamed, running out of the room with tears in her eyes.

"Fine! Be that way!" Nile shouted after her, before stalking out into the garden. By that time, everyone had stopped glaring and was watching their argument with wide eyes. Once the two were gone, they let out the breath they hadn't realised they'd been holding.

"… That went well." Miku sniggered, which made Mitsuki hit her arm and hiss, _"This isn't a joke, Miku!"_

"Ok, ok! Jeez!" Miku held up her hands in defence.

"I'll go talk to Nile." Kyoya said, and followed Nile out, chicken leg still in hand.

"_I'll find Charice." _Mitsuki offered, leaving when everyone else nodded their approval.

"I never thought I'd ever hear Charice that angry…" The Lynx user commented, replaying Charice and Nile's conflict in her mind.

"She's not usually like this, then?" Lily wrote in her notebook.

"Nope. She does get angry quite often – mainly at me – but she's never sounded this furious. Maybe that's because we only fight over the last slice of pizza, but that's not the point!" Tazmin shook her head in exasperation.

**/X-X/**

"_Charice? Are you in here?" _Mitsuki knocked on the door of Charice's room and listened for a reply, but none came. Instead, she heard a small sob, which she took to be from Charice, _"Are you ok?"_

"Of course I'm ok! That's why I'm crying!" Charice growled sarcastically, burying her head in her arms. She was currently sitting on her bed, legs pulled up to her chest, crying softly. She knew the argument was partly Nile's fault, yet it was mostly her fault for snapping at him in the first place. She felt terrible about what she'd said to Nile, although she was too scared to go and apologize, just in case Nile chose to yell at her again. Deep inside, she knew that he only got angry because they were annoying him, but she ignored this so she could avoid having to face Nile again.

"_Can I come in?"_

"No! Go away!" Even though Charice said this, Mitsuki opened the door and slipped in, closing it behind her, "I thought I told you to go away!"

"_And you actually thought I'd listen?" _Mitsuki reminded her gently. She didn't get a response to that, so she decided to change the subject, _"Charice, it's ok. People argue all the time, but they get over it eventually."_

"I know that!" The brunette hissed, not even looking up.

"_Ok…" _Mitsuki decided to take another approach, _"I'm sure Nile didn't want to shout at you. He just-"_

"He just lost his temper, blah blah blah. It was a stupid thing to fight over, yeah yeah. I know all this, Mitsuki. And there's no point in trying to get me to come out to apologize, because I won't." Finally, Charice looked up at Mitsuki, and the hazel-eyed girl flinched under the intensity of those bloodshot, violet eyes.

"_Why not? Neither of you really wanted to argue, so nobody's to blame. I admit you were exaggerating slightly, but that doesn't matter."_

"Really helping, Mitsuki."

"_Look, why don't-"_

"Why don't you just leave and let me sort this out myself?! I'm not a child! I'm probably older than you, anyway! I can do this myself, so just get out!" Charice snapped, purple eyes flashing angrily.

"_But-"_

"No buts! Just get out! Leave! Go!"

"_Charice-"_

"LEAVE!" Mitsuki winced at the volume of her voice, and quickly darted out of the room. When she was gone, Charice let out a sob.

_All I'm doing is pushing my friends away when they're trying to help me…_

**\X-X\**

"Nile?" Kyoya called out, scanning the darkness for any sign of Nile. Even with his better-than-average night-vision, he couldn't see anything that looked even remotely like his teammate, "Where are you?" Nile, if he was out there, didn't respond. Growling, Kyoya began to walk around the garden, searching for his green-eyed friend. He hadn't wanted to hunt for Nile, so he was slightly displeased for having to do it.

After a few minutes of pointless searching, Kyoya stopped in the middle of the garden, extremely irritated. He couldn't find Nile anywhere, and he'd finished his chicken leg long ago, which did not help his temper. What he didn't notice was the dark shape perched on the roof, staring up at the night sky.

"Nile! If you don't give me some indication of where you are, I'll kick you off the team!" Of course, they both knew it was an empty threat, since Kyoya would never get rid of Nile. Even so, Nile shouted, "I'm up here!" Kyoya's head snapped upwards, towards the roof. All he could see was a black figure, but he assumed that was his teammate.

"How did you get up there?!"

"There's a ladder over there! Don't know why, but there is!" He pointed to his right, and Kyoya could roughly make out the shape of a ladder. Kyoya walked over to it, grabbing hold of the nearest rung. Quickly, he made his way up the ladder, and was sitting next to Nile before long.

"You ok?" Kyoya asked, not really sure what else to say.

"Yeah… I don't really know what came over me. I just got angry and lost it over something pretty stupid, I know! I swear I didn't mean to get so frustrated! You know I would never hurt anybody on purpose… without good reasons." Kyoya had to suppress a small chuckle at those last few words, "I know what you mean. Even I have to admit, they were starting to annoy me as well with those staring contests of theirs. I don't understand why they were doing them, but whatever." They sat in silence for a few moments, gazing up at the full moon.

"Hey Nile?"

"What?"

"… What do you think of Charice?" If Kyoya had been looking at his friend and it had been even slightly brighter, he might've noticed the faint blush making its way across the boy's face.

"W-well, I think she's n-nice." Kyoya arched an eyebrow. Since when did Nile stutter?

"Nice? In what way?" Yep, the Leone-user was definitely making things awkward for the Egyptian boy.

"You know, sh-she's nice…" Nile could feel blood dripping down his chin from how hard he was biting his lip.

"In what way?" Kyoya pressed.

"Oh look, is that Pegasus up there?" Changing the subject. Nice try, Nile, but it wouldn't work on Kyoya.

"Answer. The. Damn. Question. Nile." He growled, narrowing his eyes. No matter what, you did _not _want to get Kyoya angry. Ever.

"… I-I like her. A l-lot…" Now the boy's blush was visible even in the dim light. If he was blushing this much now, Kyoya wondered how red he would be when confessing to Charice… that was, if he ever got round to it.

"… You didn't answer the question."

"Kyoya!" Nile cried, playfully elbowing the teal-haired boy in the ribs.

"You didn't though." He shrugged, _accidently _hitting Nile in the face with a stray hand. This led to a small scuffle, which in turn led to the two of them tumbling backwards off the roof after a miscalculated slap from Nile. Kyoya had grabbed onto the other's arm to stop himself from falling, but he had clearly chosen the wrong thing to rely on, since his 'rescuer' soon fell backwards with him, and they landed in a heap in the garden. How Nile ended up underneath Kyoya he would never understand.

"My… back… KYOYA, GET OFF OF ME! YOU'RE CRUSHING ME!" Leisurely, Kyoya stood up and stretched, "Thanks for breaking my fall, Nile."

"Me and my spine think you should lay off the chicken wings for the next ten years or so…" Nile groaned, wincing as he rubbed his back. Kyoya growled at this, but was stopped from attacking the poor thing when Tazmin, Miku and Mitsuki rushed out.

"What happened? We heard Nile screaming so we rushed out!" Tazmin said. Miku took one glance at the two boys and immediately worked out a way to incorporate aliens into the situation, "Alright, I know what happened! When Nile came out here, he was ambushed by aliens and was taken hostage because they wanted Kyoya for some weird reason, so when Kyoya came out, he was told to hand himself over to them or else Nile would be abducted and of course, Kyoya let himself be taken, but you can never trust aliens, and they kept Nile as well so Kyoya had to fight off all of the attacking aliens with his bey, then he freed Nile and the two escaped from the fleeing UFO, landed in the garden with Kyoya crushing poor Nile with his immense weight and that's the end!" She managed to say it all in one breath, which was quite impressive.

"'Crushing poor Nile with his immense weight'…?" Tazmin and Mitsuki had to seize Kyoya's arms to stop him from strangling Miku, "I'M NOT THAT HEAVY!" He settled for baring his fangs at the frightened girl, but still continued to glare daggers at her.

"_For some reason, I doubt your theory would be true in any world, parallel or not." _Mitsuki massaged her temples, as if trying to rid herself of Miku's (stupid) theory. _"What happened, guys?" _

"Kyoya crushed my spine!"

"Tell us something we don't know."

"We were up on the roof, and we started fighting. We fell, and Nile claims that I've crushed his spine, if you haven't worked that out."

"What were you doing up on the roof?"

"Doesn't matter. Come on, you need to go talk to Charice." Kyoya held out a hand to Nile, who took it gingerly and pulled himself up, "Do I have to?"

"_She's pretty upset, Nile, so be careful. She wouldn't really talk to me…" _Mitsuki sighed.

"Go on. It's not like we'll eavesdrop or anything, will we _Miku_?" Tazmin stared at the black-haired girl as she said this.

"Why d'ya look at me when you say that?!"

"No reason."

"Just go." Kyoya pushed him towards the house. "It'll be fine, don't worry."

"Alright then…" The boy walked into the kitchen, pointedly ignoring the whispering Himalayan as he passed them. As Nile went up the stairs, he couldn't shake off the dread that was creeping up his spine with every step closer he got to Charice's room. Maybe he should just turn around and leave her alone, like she wanted? When he finally stood in front of her door, the foreboding feeling wouldn't leave him. He shook his head, as if trying to get rid of that feeling. Slowly, he put his hand on the door handle, and turned it. There was no turning back now. "Charice?"

"N-Nile…?" Charice looked up at the Egyptian, and he inwardly shivered once he saw her red eyes.

"Y-yeah… hi."

"… Go away." She hissed, hiding her face in her hands.

"I want to talk to you-"

"What part of 'go away' don't you understand?!"

"But-"

"No buts! Just go!"

"Charice-"

"Go away!"

"Ch-Charice-"

"JUST GO AWAY!" Nile 'eep'ed pathetically and ducked as an alarm clock came flying at his head. He slipped out of the door, shutting it behind him. There was a dull 'thud', which probably meant that Charice had tried to throw something else at him, but the door had taken the hit for him. Staring at the alarm clock lying on its slide, Nile slumped against the door, sighing heavily.

"Well, that went well."

* * *

**So Nile has feelings for Charice, but she's just thrown an alarm clock at him, yeah? Maybe that will put him off? … Nah, I doubt something like that will stop Nile. When Nile wants something, Nile gets it. ^w^**

**I FEEL SO LOVED. I CANNOT THANK ALL YOU LOVELY PEOPLE WHO REVIEW ENOUGH! THANK YOU ALLLLLLL! X3**

**SO MAKE ME FEEL EVEN MORE LOVED AND PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW~! I LOVE REVIEWS~! THEY MAKE ME FEEL ALL FUZZY INSIDE~! REVIEWS ARE LOVED, AND GAARA THE HUMAN-EATING PANDA WON'T EAT PEOPLE WHO REVIEW! I own Gaara the Human-Eating Panda… so I control him. I can make him eat people… because he likes that. o3o**


	20. Leonidas and Alois Halkias

**(****EDIT:**** I'm sorry for such a late update, but when I finally finished this chapter, my laptop wouldn't connect to the internet! So I couldn't upload it… Once again, sorry! By the time you'll read this, it'll probably be April or something… and I'm writing this A/N at the end of February! Ah… My laptop sucks sometimes. -3-)**

**HEY GUYS! I was re-reading every chapter today… and I realised that in one chapter, I'd put Charice with purple hair. I think it was chapter 7…? But anyway, she's definitely a brunette. It's her eyes that are purple, not her hair. Sorry for any confusion caused! -3-**

**I can't believe we're at chapter 20, and almost at the 100 reviews mark! (EDIT: Now over a hundred – thank you so much!) I never thought this story would get this far… or would get this many reviews! Thanks to everyone who's ever reviewed on this! I love you all! I'm in such a good mood that you all get a plush of your choice! Hell, it doesn't even have to be a Beyblade plush! TAKE ANYTHINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! XD**

**AND THE THANK YOU THIS TIME IS IN… FRENCH! MERCI!**

**Oh yeah, and did anybody notice anything different about last chappie…? I'll give you TWO plushies of your choice if you can work it out… :D**

**DISCLAIMER –**** You know what, forget this. I own Beyblade and Hetalia and Naruto and every single decent anime or manga there is. *shot* (But really, I don't own Beyblade OR Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji.)**

* * *

**Blading Brings People Together**

**Chapter 20: Leonidas and Alois Halkias**

"_Come on, Charice! Open the door!"_

"This is totally unawesome, so open the door for crying out loud!"

"Please come out, Charice!"After they got no reply, the three other female members of RLS slumped against the brunette's locked door. Team SM had already left, while Alex was in his room, resting. Charice refused to open her door, let alone come out of her room. "It's pointless. She won't come out." Tazmin sighed, shaking her head.

"_But it's her against Raven today, isn't it? If she doesn't show up, won't we lose the point? And since Alex,_" Mitsuki looked around fearfully, as if something bad would happen if said Blader heard her, _"… lost… that would mean that it's all over for us!"_

"Charice probably knows that. I think she's waiting for us to leave, and then she'll come out."

"Still, why did she lock herself in her room? What's the point?"

"_Miku, be quiet! She's upset about the fight with Nile. Anybody would be. Even you, no matter how tough you try to act."_

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Look, Miku, what Mitsuki is trying to say is that Charice just needs some time to calm down and compose herself, yeah? She'll come out and get to the stadium when she's ready." Standing up, Tazmin began to make her way towards the front door.

"_I'll leave a note in front of Charice's door telling her the way to the stadium in case she doesn't remember!" _Mitsuki called after her.

"Yeah, that's a good idea! See you guys at the stadium!" A few seconds later, the front door slammed shut. Mitsuki went to get a pen and some paper, leaving Miku by herself. She sighed dramatically.

"Oh why, why is everything so complicated in my life? Why can't I just have a simple, normal life?" The black-haired girl spun around, bringing her hand to her forehead as if she were about to faint. With her other hand, she pretended to pick something up off of a nearby set of drawers. This something she brought up to her eye-line, sighing once more. "Tell me, oh skull of great wisdom. Tell me the answers! Tell me the solution to all my dilemmas!"

"Why are you pretending to talk to a skull?" A deep, steady, unfamiliar voice came from somewhere behind Miku. Startled, she whirled around… but there was no-one there.

"Who are you?!" She scanned the landing, but couldn't see anyone. It couldn't be Alex: he was asleep (his gentle snores could be faintly heard), and Mitsuki had long since left. And it probably wasn't Charice, since she had not yet expressed any wish to even talk to anyone. Besides, her voice would be hoarse and gravelly from not speaking for so long.

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours." The voice came from behind her again, in the direction of Alex's room. She turned around... still no-one.

"Because I want to. Now, who are you?"

"I am a person." The voice replied.

"That doesn't answer my question!"

"It does, technically." Miku's eye twitched.

"Alright then. So you're not going to give me a straight answer?" No reply this time. "You know, you're really annoying me! I just need to know who you are, so if you're not a friend of Spiritual Magic, I can kick you out!"

"I have already told you, I am a person." Now the voice was directly behind her. This time, instead of turning around Miku rapidly kicked her leg out backwards. Although she didn't injure whoever it was, as they'd managed to block her kick at the last second, she was able to at least startle them, which meant that they couldn't mysteriously disappear just before she turned around. And so, Miku spun around, gasping once she saw who it was.

Standing in front of her… was a person.

… No really, it was a person. Seriously, a real, live person. Yes, an actual person. This was the event of the year – no, make that the century!

"Y-you're a person!" Miku cried, her hand flying to her mouth.

"I told you I was." The ultra-rare person had lavender-grey hair tied back in a ponytail, which was resting on his shoulder, and had deathly pale skin. Violet eyes sparkled with silent amusement at the black-haired girl, and a small smile played at the corner of his lips. A red fur-trimmed cloak was draped around his shoulders. In fact, he was dressed so much like a medieval prince or something that Miku was surprised to not see a crown atop his head.

"O-ok, I believe y-you…" She finally got over her initial shock, and cocked her head, staring at the person with narrowed eyes, "… Are you Charice's long lost brother or something?" They did have the exact same violet hue in their eyes, after all…

"Charice?" Miku saw something flash in his eyes, but it was gone before she could work out what it was. "… I am sorry, but I do not know who you are talking about."

"Ah, don't worry then. Anyway, who are you?"

"I have told you: I am a person."

"Alright then, what's your name?" Miku smirked, knowing that he would have to give her the answer she desired most.

"… I am not obliged to tell you."

"… Dammit!" Miku scowled, pretending that she was burning two giant holes into the person with her eyes like that alien did in that alien movie she watched recently.

"But I shall tell you because you obviously want to know badly. My name is Halkias, Leonidas Halkias." Leonidas bowed as he said his name, his cloak swishing slightly. Miku stared at him blankly,

"… I'm confused. Is your name Halkias or Leonidas?"

"It is both… Leonidas is my first name… Halkias is my second…"

"Then why did you say Halkias first?! Dude, seriously! You don't make any sense, yeah!" Miku snorted, "Anyway, are you a friend of Team Spiritual Magic?"

"No."

"Then why're you here?"

"What was it you said earlier…? Ah yes, because I want to be here."

"… Damn you."

**/=+=/**

Mitsuki walked down into the foyer, sighing deeply. Already she could hear the alien-obsessed girl talking to herself...

_I always knew she was going to lose it someday... Today must be that day._

After scribbling down the directions to the stadium (it was only a 10 minute walk away, thank goodness - Mitsuki didn't think she'd be able to get very far in the sub-zero temperature outside), she made her way towards the cloakroom, where her coat was kept.

But as she passed the lounge/living room/sitting room/whatever it was, she noticed something moving in the darkness through the slightly ajar door. Startled, Mitsuki quickly walked backwards, and peeked through the tiny crack. She screamed not a second later.

There was an electric blue eye staring right back at her through the crack.

"Boo."

**/=+=/**

Just as Miku was about to attempt to punch the annoying, regal-looking, purple-haired 17 year-old (or at least, she guessed he was around that age), a sudden, shrill scream pierced the air.

_Mitsuki! _Miku immediately thought, spinning around to face the stairs. _It came from down there, so it must've been Mitsuki…_ The Lynx user began to worry about her teammate. After all, who would take her place if she were to die? Nobody wanted to be the sub, so…

"Ah. That must be Alois finally making his appearance." Leonidas said, breaking the silence that had followed the scream. A pale hand covered his mouth, almost certainly hiding a smirk of sorts.

"Alois?! Who the hell is Alois?!" Miku snapped, glaring at the lavender-haired teenager.

"You do not need to know."

"Um, yes I do! If this 'Alois' is hurting my friend, I'm going to have to destroy him!" She punched a fist into her other hand, imagining that she was punching some bad guy's face in.

"Alois is not one to hurt people. Scare them out of their wits… perhaps so." Before the girl could retort, he changed the subject. "You are the infamous Miku Layosa from Team Rock Lightning Storm." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

Seeming happy to be recognised, Miku instantly perked up,

"Yep, that's me! So famous that everybody who is anybody knows who I am!" She grinned happily.

"… You do know that 'infamous' is not a good thing, right?"

"… Huh?"

Leonidas - for once - actually had to stop himself from facepalming. Of course, one of his status would not do such a lowly thing, and would not ever be able to live if they did.

**/=+=/**

Breathing heavily, Mitsuki scrambled backwards until her back was pressed right against the wall. She had fallen onto her rear as she screamed, and was sure that her heart had temporarily stopped out of pure terror.

A dark chuckle came from behind the door, but the eye was no longer there…

The door slowly swung inwards… but there was no-one there. If Mitsuki was terrified before, she was absolutely petrified now. Still, she somehow managed to muster up the courage to speak,

"_Wh-who are y-you?"_ Although the girl had expected her voice to come out as nothing more than a whisper - if anything at all - she was surprised to find that it came out as her normal voice, besides the stuttering. But then again, this was Mitsuki. Her usual voice wasn't that loud, and stuttering was pretty much mandatory in situations like this.

Another dark chuckle followed her question, but there was no answer.

"_I-I said, wh-who are y-you? A-and what do y-you w-want?"_

"You want to know who I am? I… am your worst nightmare." The voice that came drifting out of the shadows held that same dark tone heard in the chuckles, but was, in a way, melodic. There was something almost… calming about it, despite its dark tone.

"_I-I agree… Y-you are…"_ Mitsuki decided against lying, instead deciding that it would probably be safer to just tell the truth.

"… Hm. You're interesting." Out of the darkness of the room, a figure began to slowly take shape. Footsteps could be heard coming closer towards Mitsuki, which only added to the scariness of the whole scene. "You're the first one ever to speak the truth after I've said something like that. Everyone else lies and claims that I am not… I can tell when they're lying. Ah, but their terror! It's so amusing to watch them try to act all brave and tough when really they're nothing of the sorts… But you…" Suddenly, a pair of those electric blue eyes materialised in the darkness. "You… I like you. You're different…" More footsteps. "… Very different."

**/=+=/**

Alois smirked slightly, watching the brown-haired girl in front of him as her golden-brown eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped open after he left the shadows. Practically everybody who saw him did that… He still found those faces amusing, but truth be told, that expression was just getting old. Yes, he knew he was undeniably sexy, and he loved knowing that if he ordered it everybody would drop dead as soon as the words left his oh-so-perfect lips, but the blond was bored of it all. Anybody who saw him wanted to be friends with him – or at least, he hadn't found many people who didn't want to be his friend at first sight. He wanted to find someone different. He wanted to find someone who wouldn't just want to be friends with him because of his looks; someone who would like him for his personality (Of course, everybody had to love his looks. So his looks as well.). As soon as Alois had seen this brown-haired, brown-eyed girl, he had known she would act differently… and she did live up to his expectations, until the second she'd actually seen him. Then she became just like everyone else…

And besides, Alois wasn't really as sadistic as he made himself seen. He had to admit, it was fun to watch people get frightened out of their minds, only to fall in love with him once they saw him, but that wasn't the point! It was simply a means of amusement. Nothing more; nothing less.

"**(In other words, you are a sadist.)"**

"… Huh? Did I just hear someone say something?" The blond stared up at the ceiling, certain that the voice had come from up there. "... Nah, must've been my imagination." Shrugging, he turned back to face the girl, who was doing nothing more than gawping at him. "What? Stop looking at me as if I'm a psycho. I'm too sexy to be a psycho." A sexy person couldn't be psycho. Or at least, that was Alois's theory (which was most likely totally wrong).

"_U-Uh…"_

"Alright. I should get down to business, or else _adelfós, _as he so much loves me to call him, will be after me."

**/=+=/**

The blond boy slipped a hand into a pocket, and began rummaging about in it, muttering irritably to himself.

Now that Mitsuki's fear had died down, she examined the boy. He couldn't be much older than Alex, who was 14, but most certainly wasn't older than Dashan. Under a long, purple frock coat, he wore a forest green vest, and under that was a simple, white button-up shirt. Atop his head sat a lopsided, miniature black and purple top hat, which sprouted bat wings… for some strange reason. Around his neck was a black ribbon tied in a bow. Although this all seemed… ridiculously overdone… Mitsuki had yet to get to the most outrageous part of his outfit… He wore brown shorts… No really, he did! But they weren't like the combat shorts Grant from Team Web-Spinners wore, nor like the jean-shorts that their very own Charice wore. No, these were real, _short _shorts. Like, they brought a new meaning to the word 'shorts'. And above all that (or technically, _below _all that), he wore black stockings that came almost right up to his shorts, leaving only a sliver of pale skin showing. To top it all off, brown high heel boots with deep purple laces fit snugly around his slim legs, all the way up to his knees.

Mitsuki had to admit, it did actually suit him. Whether it would suit anyone else…

"Aha! There it is!"

_And he speaks with an accent… But what accent it is… I don't know. All I can tell is he certainly isn't from Tibet. _Then something struck Mitsuki. _How did he get in here? None of Team SM mentioned any other guests… Is he even meant to be here?!_

Just before the girl could open her mouth to voice her question, the blond held up a bey. Its purple face bolt seemed extremely familiar…

"Mitsuki Malicsi! I, Alois Trancy, challenge you to a Beyblade battle!" He appeared to be reading her name off of a piece of paper he had pulled out with his bey.

"Alois! You are not called Alois Trancy. Your name is Alois Halkias. I do not care how much you love that ridiculous cartoon-" A voice called from up the stairs, but was cut off by Alois growling,

"It's not a cartoon! It's an anime, _adelfós_! If you ever call it a cartoon again, I will brutally murder you with a rusty spoon! I'll tell you now, you do _not _want to be killed via rusty spoon. SO NEVER INSULT BLACK BUTLER OR ANY ANIME IN FRONT OF ME AGAIN!" Alois yelled, turning to scowl towards the sound of the voice.

… _He's just like Charice… _Mitsuki thought to herself, sweatdropping.

"Alright then. I do not care how much you love that ridiculous _anime_, but even I can only go so far. I allow you to wear your bizarre cosplay clothes - or whatever it is they are called – in public. That is a real gift in itself; you have no idea how much torment I go through every time I am seen with you while you wear that outfit! Dressing up as your favourite character is far enough! I will _not _allow you to disgrace the Halkias name any further by even forsaking your proper name in exchange for a fictional character's name! It is only pure _chance_ that your first name is the same as this person's, and that you happen to look like him. Please, understand that, Alois." Mitsuki stared at Alois while he was lectured by whoever this person was - probably a relative or something. His face stayed impassive for the majority of the time, but the girl did catch his eye twitching every now and again.

"Fine, fine. Leave me alone now! You mind your own business, yeah!" Alois stuck his tongue out childishly at the stairs, and Mitsuki was shocked to see some sort of pentagram on his tongue. The blond seemed to notice her gazing at the shape, as he explained it to her. "Alois Trancy has one. It seals the contract he made with the demon, Claude Faustus." Although Mitsuki didn't actually understand what he was talking about, she nodded her head and acted as if she understood every word he said.

"_Cool…"_

"Anyway, thanks to my _annoying adelfós_ up there…" Alois glared at the ceiling, as if he could somehow glare at whoever was upstairs through it, "we'll need to start from the beginning again." For some strange reason, Alois shoved his bey back in his pocket, and slipped back into the shadows of the lounge until only his blue eyes shone in the darkness. He chuckled evilly. "You want to know who I am? I… am your worst nightmare…"

Mitsuki sighed exasperatedly. It was going to be a long, long day indeed.

* * *

**UGH I'M SO TIRED I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS NON-STOP FOR DAYS LIVING SOLELY ON CHOCOLATE POCKY AND WATER AND AWESOME MUSIC. OH WELL. I feel proud of this chapter… I like it. Whether anybody else does… Haha, I hope you guys do. ^w^**

**Truth be told, Leonidas and Alois weren't supposed to even exist… then they appeared. Haha, this is what happens when you don't plan. Random characters appear, and before you know it, the plot takes a huge twist that even the author doesn't expect. XD**

**So… Once again, I'm sorry for the gigantic wait for this chapter. And I know you guys are dying for Raven vs. Charice, but… *awkward laugh* Anyway, I should be able to update faster now. I've got my inspiration back (and wrestled down tons of homework), so YAAAAAY!**

**I hope I made this chapter good enough that it makes up for the long update time… ^-^'**

**And what language are the numbers in this time? ^w^**

**QUESTION ÉNAS! Why was Miku talking to a skull?**

**QUESTION DYO (and tría) ! Just who are Leonidas and Alois? And what do they have to do with everything?**

**RANDOM QUESTION! … Does anyone actually watch Black Butler…?**

**QUESTION T****ÉSSERA! … Who hates me for prolonging the battles? Just tell the truth… Really, I wish I didn't have to, but… Leonidas and Alois are important in the lead up to the grand finale…**

**QUESTION PÉNTE! What will happen between Charice and Nile? And just what does Alois have to do with it all?**

**THOSE WHO REVIEW SHALL GET TONS AND TONS OF POCKY. And feel free to send me death-threats if I'm not updating fast enough. I could do with some extra… um… motivation. XD**


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